"The Japanese not only cut off the South Manchurian Railway, but also tried to close the port of Dalian, so the Feng army is ready to develop Huludao and build Huludao into a maritime hub in the northeast, this project is very huge, I hope to be able to introduce American capital and jishu, and the two sides jointly develop the port."

Although Lushun Dalian is the most ice-free port in the three eastern provinces, it is located on the Liaodong Peninsula and is a little far away from the economic hinterland, so the freight cost is a bit high. Huludao is located between Fengtian and Hebei, Qinhuangdao in the west, its own port is wide and deep, the natural conditions are good, and at the same time, due to the Beijing-Fengzhou railway connection, the sea and land combined transport is convenient, and the development potential is very huge.

As early as the Manchu Qing Dynasty, it was ready to expand the Huludao Port, but only the first phase of the project was completed, and the port could only dock thousand-ton ships.

With the economic development of the three eastern provinces, the demand for shipping has also skyrocketed, and it has become very important to have a good ice-free port of its own. Zhang Tinglan has been planning to build Huludao Port, and eventually to build a large port to dock 10,000-ton giant ships, as a gateway for the three eastern provinces to communicate with the outside world.

"Japan's South Manchurian Railway Co., Ltd. can earn more than 200 million yuan in profits a year, of which 60 percent are railway freight, and the net profit is also more than 100 million yuan. The South Manchurian Railway can become a hen that lays golden eggs, to a large extent, because it connects Dalian Port and can realize sea and land combined transportation. At present, the Fengjun has the Middle East Road, the Jibong Railway, and the Jingbong Railway, which can link the three provinces together, and transport at least two or three times as many goods as the South Manchurian Railway. ”

Zhang Tinglan calculated the economic account for Becker, and he said with a smile: "The three eastern provinces are vigorously promoting farms, and in the next ten years, the grain in the three eastern provinces will increase linearly." Exports are conservatively estimated to exceed 30 million tonnes, which, with the addition of various timber and ores, is a staggering amount. In addition, if the United States is willing to help develop Huludao, Fengjun can also sign an agreement with the United States, and we will give priority to the purchase of American agricultural tractors and diesel. Mr. Consul General should be able to guess how much economic profit will be generated by the export of agricultural products from the Northeast and the import of industrial products from the United States. ”

Bai Kel is not stupid, he has been observing the development of the Feng army for the past two years, and knows that there are countless business opportunities in this black land. The Americans are also desperately trying to get a foot in the action. However, due to the division of the Shili range, this place has become the pocket of the Japanese, and the United States can only dry its eyes.

But now that the Japanese have made such a big mistake and the handle is held in the hands of the Americans, it is a good time for the Japanese to cut the meat. Assassinate Zhang Zuolin. The hijacking of the Moon Goddess is a clear proof of Japan's gross trampling on international rules. The United States will never let the Japanese pass the test easily.

Becker couldn't stop thinking about it in his heart. If we can take advantage of this opportunity to break the scope of Japan's shili and allow American capital to enter the three eastern provinces smoothly, it will be equivalent to opening the door to China at once.

A huge market with 2 million square kilometers of land and a population of more than 10 million is completely open to the United States. It is simply incalculable how much benefit it will bring to the American consortium. If this is promoted, Becker will suddenly become hot in the eyes of the American consortium. If he wants to continue to engage in politics in the future, these beneficiary consortia are his stable financiers.

The more he thought about it, the happier he became, and he solemnly said to Zhang Tinglan: "Mr. Zhang, your proposal is very good, I highly agree with it, and I will report to the United States, I believe that this cooperation will definitely be effective." ”

In the jungle shijie, to provoke an enemy stronger than oneself is a very fatal thing, the Japanese can be unscrupulous in China, but a little provoke the United States, the consequences become very serious.

Just when Zhang Tinglan was getting closer to the United States, the Moon Goddess incident had already spread, and the mood in the United States was instantly detonated, and a large number of Americans took to the streets to pray for the dead crew Paul, and at the same time denounce the barbaric practices of the Japanese government.

The United States and Japan have long been at odds with each other over the Pacific Ocean, and the American elite has regarded the Japanese as a competitor. In World War I, the United States and Japan were the countries that benefited the most. In order to enhance their international status and enhance deterrence by force, the Americans built warships on a large scale and started a naval arms race.

The Japanese also gritted their teeth to keep up and began a frenzied ship-building, and the British Empire, which had just crawled out of the flames of war, had to be involved. This new naval race has just begun, the slipway is clanging, the sea giants are being built, and the United States and Japan are the main rivals in the Pacific, and they are competing with each other.

The appearance of the Moon Goddess incident was opportune, and it immediately stimulated the sensitive nerves of the United States. The generals and congressmen who supported the development of the navy all came forward to crusade against the Japanese with great vigour, calling on the US Government to take effective measures to expand its armaments and severely punish the Japanese.

"The Japanese dare to offend the United States, it is obvious that the United States is not strong enough in the military, especially the navy, and cannot make them submit, so the Japanese dare to provoke the United States, and in response, the United States must strengthen its armaments and build a maritime liliang that will be feared by the opponent!"

Roosevelt, who was the assistant secretary of the U.S. Navy, wrote in the newspaper and put forward his own opinion, he openly appealed: "A great war that has spread throughout Shijie is over, but Shijie has not been at peace, the people of the United States cannot live in comfort and paralysis, and our citizens are still being harmed overseas, and even threatened with death, this is a scene that every American does not want to see, and only with a strong Liliang can there be absolute peace." ”

Roosevelt was a rising political star of the Democratic Party and a staunch naval faction, and after he came forward to express his position, other politicians also stood up one after another, forming an unprecedented pressure of public opinion.

As an elected president, Wilson must be accountable to his constituents, and as public opinion boils over in the United States, he must take tough measures against Japan, or he will only be accused of incompetence.

As a result, the Wilson administration quickly passed a bill requiring the Japanese government to explain the Moon Goddess incident, pay the American citizen Paul Daoqian who died, and pay compensation.

In addition, Wilson urgently halted several projects with Japan, including key areas such as steel, metallurgy, and electric power. Wilson then issued a new order. Calls for a moratorium on the export of cotton and scrap steel to Japan.

As a rising industrial country, the Japanese are the most backward in terms of jishu level, and their own resources are scarce, all of which depend on imports from foreign countries, and the United States is Japan's largest trading partner except for China. Japan exports raw silk, cloth to the United States, and then imports machinery and equipment, cotton, oil from the United States. Fei Iron and Steel and so on, to meet the needs of domestic industrialization.

In the process of industrialization in Japan, the United States assumed the dual role of jishu and raw materials, and its position was very special. Now the United States has wielded the economic stick, and the effect is surprisingly good. The blow to the Japanese was even worse than imagined.

Originally, Japan was faced with the problem of reduced demand after the war, and it had to bear the war in Siberia. Japan's economy has already been hit hard. As a result, at this juncture, the Americans took another action of sanctions, and at once they pushed the Japanese into a corner.

Factories were closed on a large scale, the number of unemployed people skyrocketed, and most importantly, the price of food also skyrocketed, because it offended both the United States and the Feng army. Japan's largest source of grain has gone wrong, and rising grain prices have become inevitable, and Japan's big businessmen have also taken the opportunity to hoard it.

Social contradictions are becoming more and more serious, and the poor economic situation has aroused the fear of rice riots in the Japanese. Yuan Jing's cabinet was pushed to the forefront all of a sudden, and Yuan Jing had already regretted it to the extreme at this time, it was really unexpected that a reckless decision would bring such terrible consequences.

Zhang Tinglan, who had been sitting and watching the situation, was extremely happy, especially when he heard that the US Navy faction was vigorously agitating for the expansion of armaments, which made Zhang Tinglan ecstatic. He did not expect that one of his means would intensify the tide of the naval arms race, which was unexpected.

You must know that the huge battleships are all sea monsters piled up with gold, but this kind of monster is still destined to be backward, the Yankees have a strong foundation and can withstand the toss, but the Japanese have not enough foundation, if they are allowed to invest a little more in the navy, the army will get a little less, and the pressure on the Feng army will be reduced a lot

Compared with the impact on the Japanese economy, Zhang Tinglan hoped to lead the Japanese into the wrong naval development strategy, a small island country, the national strength is limited, as long as it takes a wrong step, it will seriously affect the national strength, and it will become easier for the army to catch up with and surpass the Japanese.

Just when Zhang Tinglan was thinking about how to make the next move, Chang Yinhuai suddenly found him, and said to Zhang Tinglan as soon as they met: "To put it mildly, our intelligence officers have recently discovered some abnormal situations, a large number of Japanese spies have jumped out, and the investigation situation everywhere has even reached the point of being careless, whether they have any conspiracy, or want to know something urgently, we are not sure." ”

Zhang Tinglan frowned, and hurriedly asked, "How many liliang have they mobilized, and is there any focus on the investigation?" ”

"To put it mildly, since the establishment of the Investigation Bureau, we have paid attention to the issue of counter-espionage, especially after the assassination of Dashuai, we have strengthened our work in this area, and we have also cleared up a large number of spies who have anything to do with Japan. However, the actual situation is beyond our imagination, and the number of spies planted by the Japanese in the three eastern provinces is staggering, and many of them have been hidden for three or five years, or even ten or eight years. Now that their investigation is focused on the import and export trade, as well as the major factories, I suspect they want to spy on our industrial intelligence. ”

When Zhang Tinglan heard this, he nodded, and said with a smile: "I understand, the Japanese want to clear their name!" ”

"Director Chang, the Japanese Weishenme will hijack the Moon Goddess, their real target is us, they want to intercept important machinery and equipment, and they pounced. Now the Japanese are so tossing and turning, just to find those machines, and then they can give an account to the United States. ”

When Chang Yinhuai heard this, he also suddenly realized, and hurriedly said with a smile: "Humble words are powerful, one word is heaven-shattering, as long as there is a little whereabouts of the machine, the Japanese can point the finger at us, and they can also tell the Americans that there is a reason for this, let the Americans let them go!" ”

"That's right, the Japanese have got out all the spies who are so deeply hidden, it's obvious that they have lost their minds and are a little crazy, the Yankees' sanctions are really powerful!" Zhang Tinglan said with a smile: "Director Chang, we have shipped back some equipment some time ago, if the Japanese find clues and finally expose it, it will not be good for us." ”

"That's right, once they bit the equipment to death, it was their goal, and it turned out that we were fooled and mistakenly checked the Moon Goddess. We can't explain it, it's the loess mud that falls into the crotch of the pants, it's not but is! ”

Zhang Tinglan saw through the thoughts of the Japanese, and said with a sneer: "Director Chang, true and false, false and real, we should also throw out a bone and let the Japanese be fooled again." ”

"In addition, I must also seize this rare opportunity to thoroughly clean up the spies planted by the Japanese for me, with these guys here, it will be difficult to sleep and eat!"

"Don't worry, I'll do it beautifully." (To be continued......)