Due to the urgency of time, Takahashi himself has not had time to come to the United States, but the MacDonald consortium also has a lot of business in Europe, and naturally there are many institutions. For example, in matters related to finance, Catherine MacDonald's relatives have been acting as agents for the Macdonald consortium in Europe.

So, Takahashi went directly to Catherine's nephew Paul. A request was put forward for the entrustment of the issuance of new treasury bonds.

"It's not easy to do. Mr. Takahashi. You know, your army has been very worrying on the battlefield lately. Paul frowned and said, "Now everyone is worried that if the Russians send more gas bombs to the Far East, your army may quickly collapse." So at this time, buying your country's government bonds is really a very risky thing. And the conditions you have given are not enough for us to take such a risk. To be honest, a week earlier, when things were good in your country, an interest rate of 4.5 percent would have been sufficient, but now such an interest rate is completely impossible. I think Mr. Takahashi, you should understand this as well. ”

"Yes," Takahashi said helplessly, "we are willing to raise interest rates to a higher level, how about a seven-percent interest rate?" ”

Now, the first urgent thing is to procure a large number of gas masks, and many more other weapons and equipment, and other things necessary to support the war effort. For this reason, the number of government bonds issued in Japan has increased again, and now Takahashi has received at least 300 million yen of government bonds that have been sold, and the proceeds of the sales must be immediately purchased as urgently needed materials and sent back to Japan as quickly as possible. Gas masks, in particular, had to be purchased as quickly as possible, transported as quickly as possible, and had to arrive before the Russians got their hands on new gas bombs.

On the question of the origin of the poison gas bombs of the Russians, there is information that misleads the Japanese, that earlier, the Russians built a small pesticide plant near St. Petersburg. Of course, the pesticide factory is civilian, but almost everyone knows about its relationship with chemical weapons. Although the factory has not yet been officially put into operation, it is said that the factory still has many technical defects, for example, some other supporting things are not perfect, and many raw materials used to produce pesticides need to be imported from foreign countries. With the influence of these factors, it is estimated that even if the factory is put into normal production, it is difficult to produce pesticides that are competitive. This is also a judgment that anyone who knows a little bit about the market can make. Since it is impossible for this factory to make money from pesticides, but someone must build it, the purpose of building it is likely to be not so simple. Therefore, after being attacked by chemical weapons again, the Japanese immediately made a judgment -- this pesticide factory was actually a chemical weapons factory, and the chemical weapons that attacked the Japanese army came from here. This plant has not yet been fully put into production, so the chemical weapons in the hands of the Russian army now should be very limited, otherwise, in the previous battles, the Russians can completely rely on this to completely break the encirclement of the Third Army on Arthur, and even in turn crush the entire Third Army.

However, at this time, if you think about it on your heels, you can understand that the Russians will definitely produce these things without regard to a qiē at this time, and transport them to the front in the fastest way. Therefore, if you can't get ahead of the Russians and deliver gas masks to the soldiers on the front line, the battlefield can collapse at any time. In fact, it happened a few days ago because of the use of cigarettes by the Russian army. Fog. Bullets, guide zhì Japanese soldiers misjudged, and almost collapsed things.

And there is a damn law of the market economy, that is, when something, the more you need it, the more expensive it is. At first, Takahashi approached the British, hoping to buy gas masks from the British. After all, in this world, the most experienced in the large-scale use of poison gas is the British. In the eyes of the Japanese, Britain and Japan are allies, and Japan is now fighting against Russia to safeguard British interests, so it should be easy to buy some second-hand gas masks from the British.

The British did agree, but the British offered a sky-high price for the gas masks, which were even more expensive than brand new ones. Of course, the British did this for a reason, because it required them to collect the gas masks they had been issued with from the troops, and the process added many, many, many costs.

Order a new gas mask? Either of them will also increase in price, and most of them will not be in time. So, although he was slashed by his allies, Takahashi decided to grit his teeth and admit it. However, when it comes to buying these things, money is a big problem. As a result of the setbacks on the battlefield, it is now more difficult to borrow money, and even if the interest rate is raised to 7 percent, very few companies are willing to sell Japanese government bonds. And not getting the money is almost equivalent to losing the war.

"Seven percent interest rate?" Paul smiled, "You know, it's not about the interest rate or anything right now, it's important that we need reliable collateral." Otherwise, if your country is defeated in the war and cannot come up with the money, will we still be able to pull the Japanese people out to pay off their debts as they did in the slave trade? We are willing to help your country, but we also need to ensure the safety of our own funds. So, we need some reliable collateral. ”

"What do you mean by reliable collateral?" Takahashi asked, his heart full of bitterness. If it weren't for those damn army red deer, something would have happened...... Now that the Japanese Empire has been riding a tiger, if it can't get the money and prepare gas masks for the soldiers, the war may collapse, and at that time, not only will the entire Manchuria be lost, but even the dynasty. The fresh peninsula will also be lost. And taking into account the chao. The strategic location of the Xian Peninsula once towards . The fall of the Xian Peninsula to the Russians was a nightmare for Japan, and it can even be said that if the war was lost, Japan's national fortunes since the Meiji Restoration would be completely over. Originally, at this big table in the world, I got the qualification of a diner who stood aside to eat something, although it can't be compared to those gluttons who can sit there and eat a lot, but I can be regarded as a meat eater anyway, and if I continue to work hard, I may be able to have my own place. But if this battle fails, let alone the chair at the table, even if you stand to eat, you will definitely not be able to keep it, and if you don't do it well, you will be thrown on the table and become a delicious meal for gluttons. Compared to such a dire prospect, any concession is acceptable.

"Within the territory of Japan, including Taiwan and North Korea. The right to prospect and exploit minerals on the Xian Peninsula may be secured by Japanese tariffs. In addition, the money received from us can only be used to purchase items designated by the MacDonald consortium. You know that we are willing to accept the Pilgrim. It is not easy to mortgage the prospecting and mining rights on the Xian Peninsula, because for a period of your defeat, those places are Russian. Paul said.

"Okay, we can discuss that. But sir, we have to order a batch of gas masks as quickly as possible, and if only the products specified by MacDonald can be ordered, how long can Macdonald deliver? Takahashi knew that time was urgent, and he had to solve those imminent problems immediately, and as for the loss in business, it could only be calculated after the national fortune was covered.

MacDonald built a rubber processing plant in the Philippines to produce some rubber products using Chinese labor and local resources. Mr. Takahashi, you should also know that gas masks are not technically difficult, but they require a lot of rubber. So, the production of McDonald's gas masks was transferred to the Philippines a year earlier. "I think they probably have some stock there, and it would take a lot of time to ship from the Philippines to Japan than from Europe." So much so that if the demand is around 10,000 pieces, even if you order now, the time to ship to Japan will be faster than if you ship from Europe. What's more, you can also transfer some inventory first. Time is life and death now, and I think Mr. Takahashi should understand. ”

"I understand." Takahashi sighed and asked, "How much inventory is available for immediate shipment?" ”

"As far as I know," Paul said, "the Valley Coal Company has ordered about two thousand sets of gas masks from us for use in high-gas underground operations. If you need it, we can pass it on to you first. However, for this reason, you need to pay the liquidated damages that we must pay to Xigu Coal for the delay in delivery. I think that's a very reasonable request, don't you think? ”

Takahashi smiled unnaturally and replied, "That's true. But Takahashi knew that the so-called "Valley Coal Company" was not too closely related to the MacDonald consortium, and even that the company was simply MacDonald's holding company. But now that time is urgent, Takahashi really can't afford to spend time bargaining at this time, and the sooner these gas masks are transported to the battlefield, the situation can be stabilized one day earlier. And the fact that the Valley Coal Society ordered so many gas masks also gave Takahashi some not-so-good associations. The main coal mines in the valley are in the Philippines, and the workers are mainly indigenous to the Philippines. It stands to reason that American mine owners don't care how many Filipinos die underground, and it's much cheaper to change workers than to be equipped with gas masks. Could it be that these Americans have long known about the chemical weapons in the hands of the Russians? Or, which of the pesticide factories of the Russians actually came from these Yankees?

"We know that the market price of gas masks has risen a lot now because of your country. However, since we are old friends, we are still willing to give your country a more reasonable price. I think that a 10% discount based on the current market price should be a very good indication of our sincerity. Paul said with a smile.