Chang Ruiqing crossed his arms and studied the map hanging on the wall, his eyes were closely fixed on the location of Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province, and he drew and drew there with his fingers, and the corners of his mouth showed a strange smile from time to time.

At this time, there was a gentle knock on the door, this was Chang Ruiqing's office in the Fuzhou Governor's Office.

He had just returned to Fuzhou last night, and his trip to Shanghai had been very fruitful. Not only did he negotiate the "Great China Bank Plan" with the giants of Shanghai's financial circles, but also reached an agreement with Lu Yongxiang, the Shanghai Protector, to form an alliance and marriage, and when Chang Laohu and Chang Wang's family met with Lu Yongxiang from Beijing to Shanghai next month, they could arrange the marriage of Chang Ruiyuan and Miss Lu Si, and the Chang and Lu families would be regarded as an alliance and marriage.

Moreover, when Lu Yongxiang sent Chang Ruiqing out of Shanghai, he also assured him that as long as the two families were married, the China ** Industrial Group could be established immediately! All of them were handled in accordance with the ideas put forward by Chang Ruiqing. The Fujian Manufacturing Bureau and the Shanghai Arsenal were merged into the first industrial and commercial enterprises, and openly recruited commercial shares, formed a board of directors, and hired professionals to operate and manage according to the model of industrial and commercial enterprises...... One of China's largest military manufacturing companies seems to be on the verge of emergence!

"General Yaoru, it's me, Gangmura Ningci." Seeing that there was no movement in the office, the person who knocked on the door simply reported his name loudly, it turned out to be Gangcun, a Japanese military adviser of the Fujian Army!

Chang Ruiqing didn't look back, but said loudly: "Mr. Okamura, right?" Please come in, please come in. ”

With the soft sound of the door, Okamura's voice sounded again: "General Yaoru is looking at the map of Jiangsu so intently, what are his plans?" ”

Chang Ruiqing turned his head, glanced at Okamura, who was wearing a Chinese-style robe, and smiled slightly: "Mr. Okamura, what do you say I can pay attention to?" He sighed: "I just want to fight Jiangsu, and I can't reach it now." Jiangsu is still separated by two provinces from Fujian! My soldiers can't fly even if they put on their wings...... I just want to do a little business in Jiangsu right now and save a little money, I wonder if Mr. Okamura is interested in participating? ”

Okamura Ningji was stunned for a moment, and asked rhetorically: "What business is there to do in Jiangsu?" ”

Chang Ruiqing smiled and said: "Nanjing Iron Works! Didn't your country propose that China and Japan jointly establish the Pukou Iron Works the year before last? ”

Okamura Ninji snorted: "Yaoru." Then Jiangsu is not your territory, and if you want to jointly establish the Nanjing Iron Works between China and Japan, it should be Jiangsu overseer Li Xiushan (Li Chun) who will come forward! ”

Chang Ruiqing looked solemn: "Mr. Okamura, I'm not joking...... However, this iron factory is not a Sino-Japanese joint venture. It's just that a few friends in Shanghai want to invest together, and it's a private investment, and they want to ask Mr. Okamura to join in the shares, and at the same time see if there is a way to sell the billets produced by the iron factory. As far as I know. The steel industry in Japan is growing rapidly, right? But there is a shortage of raw materials! Presumably, there will be a market for the billets of the Nanjing factory, right? ”

Okamura Ningji quietly looked at Chang Ruiqing, this young middle-class valve, his actions are becoming more and more incomprehensible, and he has a very unfathomable taste. For example, in the matter in front of him, the Anhui system that Jiangsu Overseers Li Chun and Chang Ruiqing are loyal to is a bit incompatible! How dare he build a steel mill on Li Chun's site? I am not afraid of the factory that I have worked so hard to build. Was Li Chun casually found an excuse to seize it? A steel mill, even if it is only the most basic iron-making and steel-making, can't take it without millions of silver dollars......

Okamura Ningji was silent for a while, and nodded slightly: "Of course, there is a market for Pukou's billets in Japan, there are iron mines in Pukou and Meishan, and coal from Xuzhou and Shandong can also be transported through the Guò Jinpu line. But Li Xiushan (Li Chun) ...... there"

Looking at Okamura with a questioning face, Chang Ruiqing laughed, and finally said, "Mr. Okamura." You can rest assured! This iron factory will have a stake in the Bank of China. The construction funds will also be borrowed from the Bank of China. The Bank of China has now absorbed a large amount of funds from Jiangsu tycoons, and even Zhang Jilao of Nantong and Zhang Jinghu (Zhang Renkui) of Yangzhou have entered the shares. Moreover, it is a good thing to start a steel mill and save the country through industry, how could Li Xiushan not support it? Besides, the ironworks are on his turf. If it is said that it is controlled by others, it is also me, the Fujian superintendent! ”

Okamura Ninji thought for a moment. also felt that Chang Ruiqing's words made sense, and even Chang Ruiqing and Li Chun finally started a struggle because of the iron factory. Japan's interests will certainly not be harmed...... This Nanjing is under the guns of Japanese warships!

He smiled slightly: "Yaoru, since you are not worried that Li Xiushan will threaten you with the iron factory, then I can contact the sales channels of the Japanese side, two years ago, the Yawata Iron Works and your country discussed the matter of jointly establishing the Pukou Iron Works, the purpose is to transport the billets smelted by the Pukou Iron Works to the country for reprocessing." So don't worry about sales, I can tell Yawata Steel through the way of the Guò military department, and I will definitely be able to sign a supply contract. By the way, what do you think of the engineers and equipment needed to build the iron plant, which can also be provided by Yawata Steel? ”

Chang Ruiqing waved his hand: "Mr. Okamura, you have misunderstood, I am only one of the shareholders of this proposed iron plant, and I am not the largest shareholder, let alone participate in the actual operation...... After all, my brother is not a businessman! The manager of the iron factory is now ready to be Zhang Jiabao, the owner of the Shanghai cotton and oil factory, so the specific business should be discussed with him, and soldiers like us are just pulling the strings. Saying that, he smiled at Okamura again: "Now that the business is discussed, my brother has prepared a banquet here, can Mr. Okamura have a face, let's get together?" ”

When Okamura Ninji left Chang Ruiqing's office in the car of the Japanese consulate, it was already dark at night. He put politeness on his head, and his thoughts were a little confused.

His achievements in working beside Chang Ruiqing seem to be greater than Aoki Xuanchun's greatest expectations! But he faintly felt a kind of uneasiness in his heart, because what this Chang Ruiqing did was less and less like a Beiyang warlord! And every move Chang Ruiqing is playing now, he can't see through it.

First the Bank of China, then the China ** Industrial Group, and now they want to invest in steel plants in Jiangsu...... How could this Chang Ruiqing scatter money on other people's land to run a business?

……

Also on this night, in one of the most luxurious mansions in Nantong County, Jiangsu Province, a banquet had just begun.

The hall where the banquet took place was unbelievably large, and exquisite Western-style glass chandeliers hung around the hall, illuminating the hall as if it were daylight. Dozens of servants waited with their hands crossed and bowed their heads, and when they saw that someone's wine glass was empty, they would go up and fill it diligently.

At the main table in the middle of the hall, ten people sat on it, one of whom was dressed in a brocade robe. The old man with white hair and a kind smile on his face is the owner here, the head of Nantong Dasheng Capital Group. At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Zhang Jian, Zhang Jizhi!

Sitting on Zhang Jian's left and right were two middle-aged men in suits and leather shoes, gestures. They are all the work of the Western business elite. The two of them were the two brothers Zhang Jiabao and Zhang Gongquan, who came from Shanghai, to persuade Zhang Jian, a champion who had always advocated industry to save the country, to support the plan to build a steel plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu.

To be honest, for this "Nanjing Iron Works" plan, the two brothers Zhang Jiabao and Zhang Gongquan themselves are not particularly optimistic!

Iron and steel mills are no less invested than textile mills, flour mills, match mills, and ash factories (cement). It is built quickly, the technical content is low, and the income is also guaranteed. The steel mill is the kind of industry with large investment, long construction period and very high technical content! The Hanyang Iron Works in Hanyang, which was opened by Zhang Zhidong, a famous minister in the late Qing Dynasty, has been a money-burning machine since the day it was built! Until now, it has barely made a profit by selling Daye's iron ore to Japan.

Even Japan's steel industry was full of ups and downs in the early days! The blast furnace imported from Germany by Yawata Iron & Steel was unable to produce molten iron on the day it was put into operation! It took several years of rework before it was put into service in 1904......

But if you are not optimistic, you are not optimistic, and now Chang Ruiqing is willing to take out the money to invest in the name of the Bank of China, and the two brothers of the Zhang family still have to do their best to help Zhang Luo. How can you say that Chang Dashuai now relies on their Zhang family to the extreme. There is a point of entrusting financial power. If Chang Dashuai can go further in the future, the Minister of Finance, the Governor of the Central Bank, and even the Prime Minister should also have their share, right?

Therefore, the two brothers of the Zhang family will be talking about the benefits of this Nanjing Iron Works, which they themselves are not optimistic about.

However, Zhang Jilao, the object of their lobbying, nodded frequently with a smile on his face, as if he was quite excited.

The Zhang brothers' words fell. Zhang Jian suddenly slapped the table: "I think this can be done!" Xiangshuai (Zhang Zhidong)'s Hanyang Iron Works does not make money, which does not mean that this Nanjing Iron Works cannot be done...... The Hanyang plant is an iron ore mine, and the coal mine is not nearby. The transportation costs were extremely high, and the wrong blast furnace was used in the early stages of construction. The investment cost is too high, so I have lost all the way to now! And this Nanjing Iron Works is on the edge of the iron mine, coal from Xuzhou, not too far, and the Jinpu Railway, the cost will not be very high, if the sales of the product are guaranteed, the technology of the factory is also guaranteed, then the Nanjing Iron Plant should be able to do it! In this way, the old man will also invest 100,000 oceans into a share, and Li Xiushan will also greet the old man. ”

The two brothers of the Zhang family glanced at each other, and they both breathed a sigh of relief. Zhang Jian's support was expected by them. After all, this master has been shouting for almost 20 years to save the country through industry! Now someone wants to set up an industry in Jiangsu, and it is not a yarn factory that competes with him for business, how can he Zhang Jizhi not support it? However, Zhang Jian did not take the opportunity to ask the Bank of China to give him those industrial loans in Nantong, which is a bit surprising, it seems that the operating conditions of Dasheng Yarn Factory in the past two years are really good, and there is no shortage of capital turnover.

At this time, Zhang Jian picked up a glass of wine and said to the two brothers of the Zhang family with a smile: "Two Mr. Zhang, the person behind the two is Chang Yaoru, the military affairs supervisor of Fujian, right?" It was also his idea to set up an iron factory in Nanjing this time? ”

Zhang Jiabao and Zhang Gongquan nodded silently. Zhang Jian smiled and said, "The old man has always had some experience in looking at people, and this standing supervisor is not a simple role...... But in just over a year, he has climbed to the position of the lord of a province! Every move he makes seems to be ingenious to the extreme, and he will never make a loss-making deal, right? ”

Zhang Gongquan smiled when he heard this: "Look at what Ji Lao said, don't say that this loss-making business will not be done by Chang Supervisor, even I, Zhang Jiaguang (Zhang Gongquan's name Jiaguang), will not do it." ”

Zhang Jian touched his beard and said with a smile: "There are two kinds of loss-making transactions, one is to really lose the old capital; The second is that the capital is still there, but it does not make enough profits, or it does not invest the money in the place where it makes the most money and the fastest, which is also a loss-making business! Chang Supervisor took out millions of dollars to build a steel plant, and in the old man's view, it was a loss-making deal...... Although you won't lose your principal, you've wasted a lot of money-making opportunities! I don't know what you two think? ”

Zhang Gongquan smiled awkwardly: "Old Ji, Chang Supervisor is not a businessman after all, and it is inevitable that he will not consider business issues thoroughly." ”

Zhang Jian smiled coldly: "But you, Zhang Gongquan, are an extremely smart businessman, didn't you propose to the Standing Governor?" And the steel mill is on Li Xiushan's site. It's equivalent to letting Li Xiushan take the handle...... In the future, once the two families of Zhiwan tear their faces, Li Xiushan will not put the Nanjing Iron Works to death? He Chang Yaoru won't not understand these truths, right? ”

Zhang Gongquan and Zhang Jiabao nodded with a wry smile. They have already told Chang Ruiqing about these truths. But the other party didn't care at all, as if he didn't take those millions seriously!

After saying these words, Zhang Jian swallowed the wine in the cup, and his tone became deeper: "Although the old man couldn't figure out what medicine Chang Yaoru was selling in his gourd for a while. However, it is always good for the country that he wants to set up a steel plant. The old man has been advocating industry to save the country all his life, and the old man will definitely do his best to accomplish this matter. However, there is an ugly sentence that the old man wants to say in front, the Japanese have coveted the iron ore mines in Pukou and Meishan for many years! He is known to be pro-Japanese. He doesn't care if he sells the interests of Fujian, but if he wants to sell the interests of Jiangsu to the Japanese! Then don't blame the old man for turning his face and not recognizing people! ”

When Zhang Jiabao, the manager of Nanjing Iron Works, heard this, his eyebrows tightened: "Old Ji, I don't know if Nanjing Iron Works sells products to Japan if it is considered a traitor?" ”

Zhang Jian sneered and waved his hand: "Is Brother Zhang an unreasonable old man and stubborn?" ”

Zhang Jiabao hurriedly arched his hand with a panicked face: "Elder Ji, forgive me, the younger generation doesn't mean this." ”

Zhang Jian smiled slightly: "Two elder brothers Zhang, rest assured, as long as it is a normal business operation, there is no reason for the old man not to support it." The old man is also a shareholder of the iron factory! That's right. The old man heard that Chang Yaoru's younger brother and the fourth lady in Lu Zijia's family were going to get married, and the old man also wanted to go to Shanghai to drink a glass of wedding wine, so he Chang Yaoru wouldn't be unwelcome, right? ”

……

"Banxi-kun, Tohihara-kun...... What do you think this Chang Ruiqing wants to do? ”

Dongjiaomin Lane, Beijing, in the Aoki Mansion. Aoki Nobutsu knelt in the Japanese room, holding the secret telegram sent by Okamura Ninji in his hand and looking at it carefully. Sitting across from him. It was none other than Rihachiro Sakanishi and Kenji Dohihara.

There was silence in the room, and it was only after a while that Rihachiro Sakanishi broke the silence: "Your Excellency." This Chang Ruiqing is probably playing some kind of industrial idea to save the country, right? At present, in China, the slogan of industry to save the country is shouted very loudly. Maybe it also affected his thinking. ”

Aoki Xuanjun frowned and looked at Kenji Dohihara: "Dohihara-kun, what do you say?" ”

Kenji Tsuchihara just shook his head: "I don't understand, I really don't understand...... Your Excellency Aoki, this matter is indeed very strange, but it does not seem to be harmful to the Empire, and the billets produced by the Nanjing Iron Works are also sold to the Yawata Iron Works...... This is much cheaper than the Empire's imports of billets and scrap iron from the United States, and even less expensive than importing ore from Daye Iron Mine and shipping it back to China for smelting. Why don't we build a military department to support this matter? ”

Aoki said coldly: "Knowing that there is something strange and not going to find out, and supporting the other party in a daze, is this what we should do?" ”

Rihachiro Sakanishi smiled bitterly and reminded: "Your Excellency Aoki, this time Chang Ruiqing invests in an iron factory in Nanjing, and he does not need the approval of the empire!" And it doesn't have to be the financial and technical support of the empire...... And Chang Ruiqing is a pro-Japanese faction after all, if we obstruct this matter, I am afraid that it will cause misunderstanding between the two sides, which is completely unnecessary! After all, even if the other party had any conspiracy on the issue of the Nanjing Iron Works, it must be aimed at Li Chun, the overseer of Jiangsu. ”

Aoki Xuanchun stood up suddenly, looked at the pair of "master and apprentice" in front of him fiercely, and said in a deep voice: "This is a steel plant with an annual output of 80,000 tons!" The output is twice as large as that of the Hanyang Iron Works in China! If you count Chang Ruiqing and Lu Yongxiang to build a Chinese ** industrial group, the heavy industry in China will suddenly go to a higher level! What did this mean for Imperial Japan? Haven't you thought about it? ”

Sakanishi Rihachiro said in a low voice: "Shina is just a piece of loose sand, even if there is a steel mill, there is a larger arsenal will not threaten the hegemony of the empire......"

Aoki Xuanchun stomped his foot: "Confused! Don't you know the truth of nipped danger in the bud? ”

Kenji Dohihara said loudly: "Your Excellency Aoki, if you want to nip the revival of Shina in the bud, the best way is to let them continue to suffer internal friction!" Now Chang Ruiqing's layout in the southeast must be to expand his territory and power, and he will definitely clash with the local warlords and the Beijing government! At that time, as long as the empire operates a little, it will be able to make the war stalemate, drag on for a few years, and the vitality of China will naturally be greatly damaged, and those factories will either be abandoned or destroyed in the war, what threat can there be to the empire? ”

Aoki Xuanchun was silent for a long time, and finally sighed: "Okay, return to the country, build yì they support the Nanjing Iron Works, ......" He smiled bitterly again: "Even if we oppose it, those domestic chaebols will probably support it, right?" As long as they have money to make in the present, where does it care what the future will be? ”

Fastest update, please.