"Young, second uncle, you are here again, what's the matter, it's still the same, come to the pot Biluochun?"

Beijing Sijiu City, somewhere in a teahouse.

An old man of upper-middle stature, on the thin side, with a long and old face, dressed in a blue and blue satin robe, with a cluster of flowers attached, shining.

Carrying a bundle of books in his left hand, he pulled the bench out with his right hand, lifted the hem of his skirt and sat down.

"Not today, I brought some scraps from home by myself, please help me soak them, master."

"Well, that's what you say." The guy took off the towel on his shoulder and wiped the table neatly: "Another side dish?" ”

The old man stroked his beard and lowered his head for a moment, and then looked at the guy: "It's been a good day these days, in addition to fennel beans, give me half a catty of 'blind fried', and give me a dish of Manchurian dumplings!" ”

"Okay, then you can wait a minute, and I'll make you tea and refreshments." Seeing that the other party ordered so much, the guy's attitude became more enthusiastic.

The so-called "blind fried", that is, a kind of tea food in old Beijing, *** Halal religion is called tea vegetables, and the locals call it white potato bells. The general method is to cut the sweet potato into slices, wrap it in flour and fry it in the pot, and then hang it with syrup after it comes out of the pot, stick it with gold cake, green and red silk and other things, and the taste is also good.

Usually, although the old man goes to the teahouse to drink tea and drinks diligently, it doesn't cost much, that is, he orders a pot of Biluochun, with the side dishes sent by the plate, and drinks it freely.

Now it is rare to be generous, so that some familiar tea customers are surprised when they see it, and those who don't know think that the sun is coming out in the west.

Especially the broken tea just taken out, although the quality is not good, but after brewing, the tea is fragrant, and it smells like a good tea, which is far from being comparable to the popular goods like Biluochun.

】

Those who are not familiar with it look back at the old man from time to time, and use it as a talking point with their companions, whispering to them.

The familiar person relied on the closeness of the relationship and sat down directly.

"Lao Ge, what's the matter, today I changed my temper and still picked up money, and suddenly I was so generous to myself." My friend was not polite, he directly poured himself a cup of tea first, put it in front of his nose and reveled: "Fragrant and fragrant, quiet but not vulgar." ”

After saying this, this person took a sip of the tea fragrance and praised it even more: "The aroma is fresh and tender, the taste is fresh and sweet, good tea, good tea, although it is just minced, but Lao Ge, you have really made a lot of blood!" ”

Uncle Ge glanced at his friend, hugged the teapot, and snorted coldly: "You're welcome, what's the matter, just want you to be extravagant every day, and don't allow me to be extravagant?" It's just that I've figured out a lot of things and I'm in a good mood. ”

"Don't be so stingy, I'll give you a taste of my big red robe next time." My friend laughed and moved the teapot over, but this time he was much more polite, knowing that after pouring a cup for Uncle Ge first, he would fill it up for himself: "Let me drink all the tea, and leave the essence to you, enough friends." ”

Uncle Ge nodded with satisfaction, but even though he was drinking tea, he ignored his "friend", pulled out a newspaper from a stack of books, spread it on the table and looked at it silently.

If you are an ordinary person, you will definitely be bored with tea at this time, and you will go back where you come from.

But this friend was really thick-skinned enough, picked up a piece of blind fried, ate it by himself, and suddenly seemed to have discovered something big as if he had discovered something, wiped the crumbs from his mouth, and stepped forward:

"Hey, Lao Ge, you're so old, shouldn't you want to press a begonia with a pear tree? Let's say okay first, I will definitely support you, but Mrs. Sister-in-law, can you get by? ”

", where are you going to do this, you really didn't eat in vain, you will be blind." Uncle Ge was so angry that his old face turned black, and he directly wanted to raise his hand to drive him away.

"Then what's going on with you today, it's not like this." Friends frowned, a little laked.

Uncle Ge was a little tired, and he didn't want to go around in circles, so he simply opened his words, handed over the newspaper in his hand, and introduced: "Germany and Austria, trade with China has been completely stopped, and the imported goods of the Entente countries are also decreasing day by day, and there are very few ships imported......

At the time when domestic products are self-strengthening, China is weak, foreign goods are flooded, interests and rights are outside, more than 10,000 years old, want to save, advocate domestic products, Du Se leakage, the people are rich and the country is strong, knowing that in the autumn of commercial decline, citizens should advocate domestic products, and Chinese should use Chinese goods! ”

Friends are a little puzzled: "Isn't this very good, advocating domestic products is what every aspiring Chinese should do, but unfortunately domestic products are too weak, compared to foreign goods with high prices and high quality, it is useless to just shout slogans, domestic products should be self-reliant." ”

Uncle Ge knocked on the newspaper: "Look at the next newspaper, domestic products have become self-reliant, the price is much lower than that of foreign goods, and the quality is several times better. ”

Hearing this, my friend immediately flipped to that side and quickly looked at it, and the more he looked at his face, the more surprised he became.

Seeing this scene of his friend, Uncle Ge took a sip of tea, stroked his beard and sighed: "Every day in my busy schedule, I must read the ancient and modern books." At least a few pages, the mother is interrupted. To find righteousness, we must study from many sides, and we must go into the depths, and do not take superficial understanding as real understanding.

However, after reading the ancient books, I can't find a way to develop in the future, and I often suffer from the fact that there is no way to save myself from domestic products, and my rights and interests have fallen.

Now Professor Cheng's Chinese brand soda ash has been born, and it has given our people a hard fight, so how unhappy and how not pleased, if it is not for the old age, I have to drink for a few days to stop! ”

In the end, the tea in Uncle Ge's hand seemed to turn into wine and drank it all.

"Happy, fast!"

Just when Uncle Ge wanted to refill the glass, his friend suddenly stopped him:

"Wait, haven't you read all the news? At present, the Chinese brand is about to die! ”

Uncle Ge's heart twitched, and he hurriedly grabbed the newspaper to read it, which was an accusation against the public for raising the salt tax, denouncing its internal and external collusion, colluding up and down, and even bluntly saying that with this government, there is no hope for domestic products.

"Is the report of "Declaration" wrong, the Chinese brand is of great significance now, who can stop it?" Uncle Ge was hopeful and wanted to flip through other newspapers to falsify this news, but the more he turned to the back, the cooler his heart became, and finally he slapped the newspaper: "That surnamed Feng is so short-sighted?" It's really a lack of vertical and conspiracy! ”

The more my friend thought about it, the more angry he became, and he wanted to take a sip of tea to suppress his anger, but he felt really sick to his stomach, and drinking tea at this time was simply a waste: "Those who protect the tax rules, because of the naivety of our country's industry, are afraid that they will be suppressed by advanced countries, and they will be developed indefinitely, and they are sinners who want to do the cause of the nation!" ”

"No, if you don't write at this time, when will you wait, I must send five articles in a row to crusade against the one surnamed Feng! If five doesn't work, I'll have ten, twenty, either I'll die, or the salt tax will be abolished! Uncle Ge was furious.

"Okay, add me too, it just so happens that I have recently studied vernacular poetry, and I will take it out to kill their majesty......"

……

In the teahouse, in the theater, in the community, in the school.

When Beijing learned that the salt tax was about to be increased to stifle the China card, many people with lofty ideals began to cry out for the withdrawal of the decree.

Whether it is newspapers or leaflets, they are trying their best to speak out through various channels to express their support for Cheng Nuo.

Even some opponents who were repelled in the political struggle began to speak out, criticizing Feng Guozhang for not doing personnel, harming the countrymen, and betraying national interests.

Especially Duan Qirui, who retired to Tianjin, was not to be outdone at this time, spreading the importance of Zhonghua brand soda ash everywhere, the destruction of the increase in salt tax, and how the public was short-sighted and preached in full swing.

Regardless of whether Duan Qirui used the topic to hype up and criticize his opponent, the effect has already been achieved for Cheng Nuo, and there is more and more support for him.

Politics, business, learning, teaching, work, and so on are all powerful and loud contributions.

Of course, the main reason is that at this time, Cheng Nuo represents the interests of the largest group at present, and has the general trend of the times.

Since Xinhai, the political status of the Chinese bourgeoisie has greatly improved, and many business people have participated in the central and local governments, which has influenced the formulation of economic policies to a certain extent.

In this situation, although Yuan Datou, who had stolen political power, encouraged and excluded dissidents politically and attempted to restore, he also adapted himself to the needs of the objective situation economically.

In addition, the Beijing government has huge military and political expenditures, the national treasury is empty, and the finances are struggling. In order to solve the economic difficulties, Yuan Datou and his successors also said that they would "revitalize industry".

In order to strengthen the foreign competitiveness of national industry and commerce, boycott foreign goods, and advocate domestic products, the Ministry of Agriculture and Industry and Commerce has provided certain assistance to some industrial enterprises in terms of capital and technology.

For example, in 1914, the government successively organized industrial and commercial groups from various provinces to carry products to participate in the Taisho Exposition held in Tokyo, Japan and the International Exposition held in Panama, and Chinese products won a number of awards.

The following year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce held a large-scale exhibition of domestic products in Beijing. In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce has also set up a committee to persuade industries, with an industrial laboratory, an industrial and commercial visiting office, and a commodity exhibition center.

In the future, a certain red wine won the gold medal, a certain Fenjiu won the gold medal of the first class of the Panama Expo, and a certain chicken essence won the gold medal of the Philadelphia International Exposition, etc., all of which occurred in this era.

Of course, the current scene is so hot, and it is inseparable from Cheng Nuo's behind-the-scenes push.

In private, he also mobilized contacts to fight a war of public opinion.

Especially in China, which has just experienced 21 treaties of loss of power and humiliation of the country, and has publicized a wave of boycotting Japanese products and advocating domestic products, at this time, there is unprecedented support for domestic products represented by the Chinese brand.

Especially at this time, Fan Xudong also ushered in the Chinese domestic products maintenance meeting and the persuasion of domestic products meeting, and hyped up the Chinese brand.

And Cheng Nuo also knows the truth that as long as it is difficult to make a forest alone.

Actively contribute money and efforts, and together with these organizations, they add preachers, who are responsible for persuading the society to buy domestic products and give speeches everywhere. Add sponsors to contribute to various domestic products.

There are various ways to persuade the use of domestic products will be promoted, including but not limited to: calling for pure domestic products in shopping malls. Insert pictures of domestic products in the film and drama fields, insert domestic speeches in the storytelling field, and persuade the domestic products to send their own posters to the shopping malls for display.

For a time, the Chinese brand faintly had the position of the boss of domestic products, and brought many domestic products to impact the foreign goods market.

The foreign goods in the entire market were killed and turned over, and the whole market took on a new look.

However, the British obviously did not intend to forget about it, and still wanted to force the salt tax law to continue.

In this regard, Cheng Nuo bluntly stated in the newspaper: "The salt exemption is not only approved by the Salt Administration, but also approved by the president's order at the same time as the exemption of customs duties, which can be seen in the government gazette. The Salt Administration is only a subordinate agency of the Ministry of Finance, so why should it resist the president's order? ”

However, the Englishman who killed the red eye was poor and said that "the price of Chinese alkali must be the same as that of foreign alkali, and the price is higher than that of foreign alkali before it can be exempt from tax." ”

Cheng Nuo laughed angrily when he saw it, sure enough, he was an Anglo-Saxon, and he would never consider stealing or defrauding if he could use it.

Let me tell you plainly that the price of Chinese alkali must be higher than that of Bnemen.

Of course, Cheng Nuo and they refused to give up, especially with the support of so many people in the back, it was not the competition between the two companies of Zhonghua and Bunei, but the struggle between domestic and foreign goods.

After discussing with Fan Xudong, a complaint was filed with the Ping Zheng Yuan accusing the Salt Administration of the Ministry of Finance of breach of trust and violating the law, and promulgated the "Regulations on the Taxation of Industrial Salt", expressing the intention to make China's emerging alkali industry a failure.

At this time, Feng Guozhang had been roasted on the fire, and when he saw the steps handed by Cheng Nuo, he hurriedly went down the slope and specially instructed the Ping Zheng Yuan to be "fair and open".

Sure enough, although there were some small turmoil during the period, it ended in the victory of the Chinese card.

After losing the support of the law, Bonemen was a little weak and wanted to take advantage of the ease of some relations.

But in Cheng Nuo's view, if the salt tax law does not go away, the sword of Damocles on his head will always hang over his head, and he will be cut down one day.

Peace pact or something, for the Anglo-Saxons, is a flexible piece of waste paper.

A contract that can't be torn up, can it be called a contract?

After discussing this with Cheng Nuo, Fan Xudong directly criticized it in a clear text: "It is said that foreign alkali is sold in China, but the inner door of Bu is huge, and now your association wants to protect your country's foreign alkali, and does not hesitate to destroy China's alkali industry.

Although the meeting is British, he is now a Chinese official, using the political power to destroy Chinese industry, and he is really a bandit and shameless! ”

Cheng Nuo certainly did not naively think that the British came to China to serve as officials for the benefit of the Chinese.

To put it bluntly, it was looted.

To this extent, the two sides have completely torn their faces, and there is no room for relaxation.

Cheng Nuo simply used Fan Xudong's connections to increase the tax payment part of the Yongli Alkali Factory, blocking the appetite of Zhili and Beijing.

In this way, no matter how much trouble the British make, Beijing knows that foreigners are not easy to mess with, and although they are full of promises, in fact, it is the lake that makes trouble.

Be flexible with Indian time plus procrastination.

No matter how powerful the foreigners are, they don't have the wages paid by Yongli Alkali Factory after paying taxes.

In this way, the Chinese brand temporarily survived the biggest difficulty since its birth.