@@@@@@

The spring breeze on the shore of West Lake is warm, and the willow branches are fluttering with new teeth and tender green.

During this period of time, there were many happy events in the Republic of China, first the Ministry of Finance released the latest economic data. By the end of last year, the country's GDP exceeded 120 billion yuan, reaching 121 billion yuan, equivalent to 60.5 billion US dollars (88 billion in the United States in the same period)! It has maintained an annual growth rate of 7 percent despite three consecutive years of major natural disasters. The country's total industrial output value has also increased by 15 percent for three consecutive years, approaching 16 billion yuan, and its share in the world's industry has risen from 5 percent in 20 years to 6 percent. Steel output exceeded 4.5 million tons (self-produced), crude oil 700,000 tons, rubber 450,000 tons, cement 15 million tons, fertilizer 2 million tons, the fastest growth is coal, from 10 million tons three years ago to 67 million tons now. In addition to power generation and telecommunications, which have a long investment cycle, many projects in the second five-year plan are close to expectations, and it is optimistically estimated that they will be completed half a year ahead of schedule.

The second is the development of the manufacturing industry to the private sector, and last year alone, there were two private steel mills and 11 private tractor and automobile factories in the country. Light industry broke out again after the downturn after the European War, soap, matches, cotton spinning, garments, silk reeling and other industries grew rapidly, of which private capital accounted for more than 7 percent of the total light industry in the country.

At first, everyone was still worried, because industrial development and purchasing power are closely related, and they were afraid that the goods would not be sold after they were manufactured. However, it turns out that the country is still in a seller's market, the land problem has been alleviated after the Chengcheng Act, the land appreciation tax has made a large amount of land sold into circulating currency, coupled with the ability to abolish gold and silver as currency after the silver crisis, and the long-term foreseeable period of peace has prompted investors and citizens to dare to consume, and the current situation is even somewhat like the first few years of reform and opening up in the parallel world, where the national demand for goods is several times the manufacturing capacity. Taking walk-behind tractors as an example, after a year of national demonstrations and farmers' association leasing and other promotional activities, 350,000 immigrant families in Northeast China alone have the idea of buying walk-behind tractors, but the factory can only produce 50,000 per year, and even if the automated cylinder block production line is put into operation, it is far from keeping up with the demand.

But there are also many shortcomings. One of the biggest problems is that the proportion of high value-added industrial products is still very low, less than one-fifteenth of that in Europe and the United States.

Overseas, the Sumatra oil field of the Gulf Oil Company has entered the construction track, and the Chinese in Nanyang have been buying government bonds or returning to China for investment. Even Pei Zuyi sent back the news. In the franc crisis that broke out in February, the SDIC made its first attack to short the franc, and after making a profit, it took advantage of the opportunity of Morgan and the French government to start negotiations, and made a huge profit of up to 200 million US dollars in just 3 months! Although this incident caused protests from the Jewish group, and expressed dissatisfaction with Yang Qiu's robbery through Jacob, it was because he planned to make a little money from the beginning, and did not touch the core interests of monetary rights. So in the end, the Jewish plutocracy had no choice but to do it.

It is precisely because of the initial results of the reforms in the past decade, the full flowering of overseas and domestic markets, and the huge population and market, that the visit of US Secretary of Commerce Hoover has become inevitable.

Yang Qiu set up the place to entertain guests at the West Lake Hotel, with the beautiful West Lake outside the window. Hoover, a businessman with an almost paranoid passion for mining, had spent most of his early years in China in places like Tianjin and Guangzhou, and was attracted by the sight of West Lake for the first time, saying, "Thank God." It's so beautiful, I wish I could live here for the rest of my life. ”

"Great idea, but I'm afraid President Coolidge will have a headache. Because he couldn't find a second Secretary of Commerce who was so good and able to you. ”

"Haha."

Hoover also took the opportunity to explain his intentions, hoping that Yang Qiu would help him go to Kazakhstan and other Central Asian regions to check on the Soviet famine, and at the same time hope to further deepen the commercial and trade cooperation between the two countries, and hoped to open some investment projects in the northwest to the United States to promote business and trade exchanges between the two countries.

Both China and the United States are in the good post-war era, and both economies are growing at a high rate. China's situation is that the market is large and the output is small, and there is enough room for development. The United States has a large manufacturing industry but a small market, and the European and British and French colonial markets, which it had been hoping to get when it entered the war, could not get a piece of the pie at all, so it had to take advantage of the opportunity for the reconstruction of the Soviet Union and Germany. Japan is also a traditional dumping site for the U.S. manufacturing industry, but it was China that had brought some difficulties to the entry of U.S. goods because of its rapid growth and the fact that imported goods no longer had a price advantage after tariff independence.

Access to Central Asia is a sensitive topic, and Russia has imposed strict restrictions on the Karaganda iron ore mines, not to mention the need to protect US government ministers from entering the region. But the thought that in a few more years Hoover would become president of the United States. If you want to take advantage of the US economic crisis to make a big profit, you have to rely on his help, so Yang Qiu thought about it and agreed, and said: "Mr. Hoover, I can order the army to protect you to Karaganda." In addition, I would like to thank you for your interest in the northwest of our country, and I am very willing to open up the northwest for investment in your country, but this matter needs the approval of the National Assembly and the presidential office. Of course, we also want to see more investment in rubber and mining in the Luzon region. ”

Yang Qiu's promise to protect the trip to Karaganda made Hoover very happy, which meant that the core of the interior of Asia would be opened to the United States, but he was not very satisfied with the exchange of Luzon for the northwest. As China's influence grows and the status of the Nanyang Chinese increases, opening up more Luzon investment to China will inevitably affect the local political landscape, so this matter needs to be very cautious. However, Hoover himself was still very willing to promote the idea of exchanging the northwest for Luzon, because he felt that the position of the United States in Luzon was unshakable, and it was impossible to break the situation of long-term American control of Luzon unless China sent troops.

Yang Qiu will not let go of this opportunity in vain, citing insufficient construction as an excuse to ask the United States to increase the annual export of 200 tons of scrap steel to 3 million tons, increase the proportion of high-melting point steel, and at the same time purchase two sets of electrolytic aluminum equipment with an annual output of 50,000 tons, and also focus on the introduction of electronic product manufacturing technology.

Hoover frowned casually.

Increasing the purchase of scrap steel shows that Yang Qiu continues to suppress Japan's intentions, but he is very puzzled by electrolytic aluminum. Because electrolytic aluminum is not a new technology, large-scale industrial aluminum-making equipment is far less complex than steel mills, from a technical point of view, the Republic of China has the ability to manufacture a full set of aluminum-making equipment, it should be that the speed of industrial manufacturing is not enough to meet the demand so that it has to purchase from the United States.

The question is, does Yang Qiu want so much soft aluminum? 100,000 tons per year, that's a huge output! You must know that the world's largest electrolytic aluminum production is in the United States, and the annual output of Alcoa, controlled by the Mellon consortium, is only about 80,000 tons. Britain has only 20,000 tons, Germany about 30,000 tons, and France has less than 5,000 tons. A country with a serious shortage of electricity actually wants to increase the annual output of electrolytic aluminum to 100,000 tons. Isn't that a joke?

But in Yang Qiu's view, this number is inconspicuous. Not to mention the production of astronomical figures in later generations, once the aero engine breakthrough alone, the amount of aviation aluminum will increase exponentially. At present, the annual output of domestic electrolytic aluminum is less than 3,000 tons, which is seriously lagging behind the actual demand. What's more, China is an "iron-poor" country. Aluminium is very important as an irreplaceable supplementary metal. As for electricity, he is even less worried, because he has decided to build two large-scale hydropower plants and a thermal power plant in Beihai Province, which is rich in bauxite, coal and hydropower resources, which can not only support the electricity consumption of several northwestern provinces, but also have no problem at all with an annual output of hundreds of thousands of tons, while Guangxi, another electrolytic aluminum base, is not too troublesome because of its abundant water power.

As for the popularization of civilian electricity a few years later, it is not an unacceptable thing.

Before the West Lake was finished, the two quickly reached an agreement. Yang Qiu promised to open up more opportunities to the United States. Escort Hoover to Karaganda to check on the relief situation in Soviet Russia. Hoover promised to sell two sets of 50,000 tons of electrolytic aluminum equipment to China, and also won contracts for large hydro turbines for three hydropower plants, and promised to increase the amount of scrap steel exported to China, but he did not immediately reply to the final plan for the Northwest to change the Luzon market, because the matter was too important and he needed to report to President Coolidge.

In general, China and the United States, which are in the honeymoon period, have strong complementary capabilities, so everyone had a very happy chat in the business negotiations. After returning to the hotel. The exquisite Suzhou and Hangzhou delicacies made Hoover unhappy, looking at him Yang Qiu slowly put down his chopsticks and raised his eyebrows unnoticed: "Mr. Hoover." I heard that you have a lot of experience in mining, but I wonder if you are personally considering investing? ”

Hoover did have an unusual passion for the mining industry, because he made his fortune in the mining industry in his early years. However, he now has a special status, and as a U.S. government minister, he continues to work in the Chamber of Commerce to bring many disadvantages in his career, and regrets: "Yes, I am very interested, but as a U.S. government worker, I think." ”

Hearing that Hoover was going to refuse, Yang Qiu immediately interrupted: "It's a big business with a total value of more than $700 million!" ”

"Ahem." Hoover, who had just stuffed a shrimp ball into his mouth, was almost choked, and looked at Yang Qiu with wide eyes and disbelief. $700 million contract? God, could it be that China has discovered a second Sumatra oil field? If it were really that big. All the adventures are worth it.

"It's not oil, it's manganese. A world-scale manganese mine, because of its special location, I need a partner. Yang Qiu understated and deliberately did not say the location.

Thinking that Yang Qiu wanted to exchange the northwest for Luzon just now, and now he needs a "partner", Hoover couldn't help but scratch his head secretly. It can't be Luzon, right? If Luzon is not easy, after all, manganese ore is a high-value mineral, and world-class manganese ore is enough to cause war. Moreover, after the Sumatra oil field, all countries have strict control over this place, and the United States will not allow such a large manganese mine to be controlled by China. So he asked, "Your Excellency, if it's Luzon or Nanyang, please forgive me for not being able to do anything." ”

"Certainly not Luzon. It was discovered by a company in my private name, in Australia. ”

Hoover moved his mouth, and finally knew why Yang Qiu wanted a "partner". Although Australia is already independent, it is still effectively controlled by the British, and the British government is indispensable to mine such valuable mineral deposits. However, if he joins forces with him, in the face of the background of the Chinese and American governments, I am afraid that Downing Street will have to turn a blind eye.

Seeing Hoover's bright eyes, Yang Qiu knew that he was moved, and said with a smile: "You don't need to come forward in person, as long as you help me get a mining license and reduce interference, I can give you thirty percent of the shares." Of course, if you need money in the future, you can also sell the shares to me for cash, what do you think? ”

As long as you pay lip service to help get a mining license, you can get $200 million in shares. Especially the latter one, once you need to sell the shares to Yang Qiu in exchange for cash, it is even more exciting! You know, Hoover doesn't want to be Secretary of Commerce for the rest of his life, and he will definitely need a lot of money when he runs for president in the future, and having these shares is equivalent to stepping into the White House with one foot!

Yang Qiu was also very happy.

Australia's Groot Island is rich in manganese ore resources, and the survey team has also located two sources. If you go to mine alone, you can convince the Australian government that it should be fine, and you can't do it by spending some money and bribes, but the UK can't get around it. But it's different to pull Hoover, the vague background of the Chinese and American governments, even the British Empire can only pinch its nose and recognize it, as for the shares worth 200 million, in the final analysis, it is also generous to Australia, not to mention that if Hoover can be pulled on the boat, there will be a lot of opportunities in the financial crisis a few years later.

The two quickly reached an agreement. Yang Qiu and Hoover registered a mining company in their respective countries, and then formed the North Australian Manganese Mining Company on the Sumatra oil field model. Yang Qiu was in charge of all the investments, while Hoover was in charge of getting the Australian government in charge of and, if necessary, sending letters to "unfriendly countries" on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce stating that the North Australian Manganese Mine Company was an overseas asset of U.S. citizens.

After the agreement was signed, Yang Qiu generously transferred a company from the 103rd Division to protect Hoover to Central Asia, and he returned to Nanjing to discuss the establishment of a manganese mining company with Lu Bicheng. Lu Bilian was very interested in this big business and immediately took over all the follow-up work. However, she did not come forward in person, but in the form of shares, Huachen Petroleum Company and Zhigongtang Haihua Trading Company set up a new company at a 64 split, and then this company and Hoover's company cooperated to form the North Australian Manganese Mining Company. There are two advantages to this, one is that the Zhi Gong Court has a deep foundation in Australia, and the other is that Yang Qiu's current identity is no longer suitable for direct appearance.

Yang Qiu continued to be the shopkeeper, handing over the work of the North Australian Manganese Mining Company to Lu Bicheng and then going to Jacob, because the Ministry of Finance needed to borrow the Jewish banking network to get back the $200 million that Pei Zuyi had earned. After paying a $10 million "benefit fee," Jacob promised to help the SDIC transfer the money. But instead of returning to China, the money was transferred to the United States, and Pei began to buy a large number of high-quality stocks as planned, quietly waiting for what Yang Qiu called a "turning day...... (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation and monthly passes, and your support is my biggest motivation. )