The news that Yan Shao wanted to return to Wuhu to set up an iron factory with more than 5 million yuan to purchase smelting equipment in Shanghai soon spread across the boundaries of Shanghai.

The foreign banks that had not received any benefits in the previous few times were almost gearing up this time, planning to find a way to win this order, and as the winner of the first two times, Jardine Matheson undoubtedly has the greatest confidence.

It's just that the development of things seems to be a little unexpected, and this time it was not Jardine Matheson that got the order, but Lihe & Co. in Germany.

As Germany's largest foreign firm in the Far East, two consecutive large orders of more than one million yuan fell into the hands of the long-cherished enemy British, which was undoubtedly a considerable blow to the British and foreign firms, especially when Britain and Germany were fighting each other on the European continent.

So in order to get this big order worth more than 5 million, Lihe Foreign Bank not only made a lot of preparations, but also gave up a lot of profits on this project, even if it is not a loss to make money, but in fact, it is not much worse.

It was also in this situation that Lihe & Co. finally snatched this big order from the hands of Jardine Matheson.

When Yan Shao announced at the bidding meeting that it was Lihe Foreign Bank that won the bid, the manager of Lihe Foreign Bank showed a very complicated expression on his face. Because he knew very well that Lihe & Co. didn't make much money in this business at all, in other words, the whole business just sounded good.

On the other side, the manager of a British foreign company cursed in a low voice. "These damn Germans are crazy enough to dare to bid on such terms."

Hearing his words, the manager of a British foreign company also frowned. "I think these Germans are just sincere in trying to stir things up."

Truly. Competing at a price that is infinitely close to cost is indeed similar to disrupting the situation in the eyes of these Brits.

However, the Germans knew in their hearts that after losing two large orders of more than one million in a row, Lihe could not allow the third time to be lost. Because it's not just the profit that's lost. And fame...

Just like today, insiders certainly know that Lihe Foreign Company didn't make much money in this business, but what about laymen? They will only see that the Germans have won this order, and these false names may bring a lot of business to Lihe and the foreign company in the future, of course, this time the Lihe foreign company will only get these false names...

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"The mussels fight, the fishermen profit...", watching the Germans compete with the British. Even this kind of condition can be raised, and the smile on Yan Shao's face can't be stopped. "No wonder so many people like to bid, this method is indeed quite good..."

Saying this, Yan Shao had already stepped down from the stands. "Mr. Manager. The next thing is going to trouble you..."

Seeing the customer coming over, Del Rose also nodded. "Rest assured, we will definitely send the technicians we need as soon as possible to assist you in preparing for the ironworks..."

He hadn't even thought about making some fuss about the agreement. Because there are so many eyes on this business. If he can complete the contract perfectly, then he can still get some false name. If he had done something about the contract, he wouldn't even have a name.

Yan Shao was not worried, because he believed that with the wisdom of the Germans, he would not do anything stupid in this matter, so he nodded. "Then I'll trouble you with this matter..."

According to the agreement, the Germans not only needed to sell smelting equipment, but also sent special personnel to Wuhu to assist Yan Shao in establishing an iron factory, and at the same time sent people to help analyze the local iron ore in Wuhu. Avoid what happened to the Hanyang Iron Works in the past.

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"The 100,000-ton iron plant will wait until the entire iron plant is completed. China's steel production can reach 1.5 times that of China..."

In the headquarters of the Japanese Black Dragon Society, looking at the report that had just been transmitted, Tou Shanman's face showed a trace of solemnity. Except for him, most of the other people in the room were the same.

Until now, they still can't forget how much loss they suffered because of Yan Shao's deliberate entrapment of Japanese businessmen in Shanghai more than half a year ago. Because of that incident, more than half of the Japanese businessmen involved at that time declared bankruptcy, and the rest even behemoths like Mitsui and Mitsubishi were broken. Then Yan Shao took advantage of the fire to buy the machines of a number of spinning mills from the Japanese, and made more than 17 million profits from the textiles dumped by the Japanese, which made the Japanese grit their teeth.

It's just because this is just a 'normal' business competition after all, and Yan Shao's identity is very sensitive, and his usual security is also quite tight, so even the most radical Black Dragon Society, which also suffered heavy losses in that incident, did not dare to act rashly.

But now...

"Unlike the cotton textile industry, steel is an important indicator of whether a country is strong, and if this iron mill can be built, then the empire's plans in Mongolia will probably be..."

"Are you going to send someone to break this agreement?" Someone said softly, but as soon as the words came out, someone had already retorted.

"You've signed a good agreement, how do you want to break it?"

"That's right, and this is an agreement with the Germans, and if you mess with it, you can easily offend the Germans..."

"You can't just leave it alone, can you?"

For a moment, there was a lot of argument in the room, and the question they were arguing about was how to solve this scourge.

"Uchida-kun, what do you think...", leaning slightly towards Ryohei Uchida's position, in the midst of the noise, Touyamaman asked softly.

Ryohei Uchida was obviously a little embarrassed by this question, and only spoke after half a sound. "Now that the agreement has been signed, it will be difficult to break it, and the attitude of the Germans must also be considered, but although the agreement cannot be broken, it does not mean that we cannot start from other aspects..." I propose that a part of the strength of Mengman be transferred to Anhui, and then find a way to obstruct the construction of the iron works..."

If possible, he wants to use the Japanese to deal with the Hanyang Iron Works to deal with this upcoming iron factory, the problem is that Yan Shao's family property is too rich, there is no need to worry about the problem of funds, the Yushi Group with a capital of tens of millions is Yan Shao's own unique, not even a shareholder, it is really impossible to insert a needle, water can not be splashed.

Originally, in Uchida's view, the Hanyang Iron Works, which produces tens of thousands of tons of steel per year, was already a problem for Japan. "I didn't expect such a new iron factory to pop up now..."

Hearing Ryohei Uchida's words, Toyamaman nodded.

The strength of the Black Dragon Society was mainly concentrated in Mongolia and Manchuria, in order to separate Mongolia and Northeast China from China. "But now it seems that some of the strength needs to be transferred to Anhui..."

In Toushanman's view, this does not contradict the purpose of the Black Dragon Society, because a very large iron factory is itself a tool that can strengthen China's power. The Chinese government, which had become stronger, was also an obstacle to their seizure of Manchuria, so in order to weaken the Qing government, it was normal for them to send some people to Anhui.

Not only the Japanese, but also many people are also paying attention to this upcoming iron factory, but they are not as concerned as Japan. After all, at this time, except for Japan, a new power, almost none of the five major powers of Britain, the United States, Germany, France and Russia had a crude steel output of less than 1 million tons, and even the least one had a crude steel output of more than 2 million tons. Compared with Japan, which has only a little more than 100,000 tons, it is a world of difference, and an iron plant of more than 100,000 tons is not small in their eyes, but it is nothing, especially for the Americans.

Even in 1900, the crude steel output of the United States had reached more than 10 million tons, which can be said to be quite amazing, and after 1906, the crude steel output of the United States reached more than 20 million tons, which was even hundreds of thousands more than the crude steel output of Britain, France, Germany, Russia, and Japan combined. (In 1906, Germany's crude steel output was 11.308 million tons, followed by Britain's 6.566 million tons, Russia's 2.783 million tons and France's 2.452 million tons, and the worst was Japan, only 104,000 tons, but it was much stronger than China, because at that time, China's huge China was supported by only one Hanyang Iron Works with a steel output of only a few tens of tons...) ）

A steel mill of more than 100,000 tons? It may be remarkable for Japan, but for the other powers, hehe...

It was not clear that the Black Dragon Society had completely targeted itself because of the matter of the iron factory, and Yan Shao, who was unaware, returned to Wuhu with several experts sent by Lihe Foreign Bank. These experts are helping Yan Shao find iron ore, and by the way, they are analyzing, for the smooth start of their iron plant, Yan Shao is also very courteous to them along the way.

After deciding to start an iron factory, Yan Shao has also made another decision. That is, to build a 'highway' between Wuhu and Dangtu County, at least the highway of this era, to strengthen the connection between Wuhu and Dangtu. If the conditions do not allow, Yan Shao even plans to build a railway between the two places, but before that, the first thing to build is a road from the iron mine to Dangtu or Wuhu.

The first highway in history was the Ivos Highway built by the Germans in 1932, which had a gray pavement, and was later paved with a layer of asphalt on the gray pavement, and it was only 10 kilometers long, while Yan Shao planned to build a cement road, if it could really be built in the end, it would become the first highway in the world... (To be continued......)