Chapter 191 Return to a Friend

At the end of the Qing Dynasty, because the capital was in Yanjing, foreign countries generally only set up consulates in Nanjing. In the 25th year of Guangxu, the lower pass was opened as a commercial port, but it was limited to the Jianggan area and did not reach the city. For the sake of all interests, all countries have to set up consulates in Xiaguantong City.

After the restoration of the nation last year, the temporary political axe built the capital of Nanjing, and some countries that established diplomatic relations with the temporary political axe gradually moved the site of the embassy or embassy to Nanjing. In the meantime, some secretly sent autumn waves to the temporary political axe, some preemptively established diplomatic relations, and some tested step by step. Since the founding of the empire, some countries that have established diplomatic relations with the empire have gradually moved their embassies or embassies to Nanjing.

As the first Western power Germany to establish diplomatic relations with the temporary political axe, the embassy was initially located in the old consulate, and then rented land in the building alley, and built 15 German two-story buildings with 432 brick, wood and concrete structures, 122 kitchens, 120 toilets and 2 bathrooms, a total of 678 rooms. At this time Nanjing is the largest embassy.

To some extent, the size of the embassy is contrasted with the "ambitiousness" held by the country in the country where it is stationed. As a backward country, Germany's privileges in China, except for Qingdao, are mostly obtained by opening up the door, but for the German capital industry, the development of the Chinese market directly It is related to the future of the capital industry. From the end of the Qing Dynasty to the present, both the Qing Dynasty and the Empire have purchased a large number of ordnance and machinery and equipment from Germany. Especially since the temporary political axe, China has purchased machinery and equipment from Germany for more than a decade.

"China's market is related to the future of German industry!"

Stimulated by huge orders, Germany was the first Western power to recognize Nanjing. In return, in the past two years, a large number of orders and cooperation contracts have been continuously sent to German industry, especially after the declaration of war between China and Britain.

At about 9:00 a.m., a car left the German embassy. After several turns, the car turned to Guangfu Avenue, and then drove along Guangfu Avenue in the direction of the palace. In Nanjing, any foreign observer knew that for China, it was not their politics that could make the final decision-making power on any issue. The axe is not the council, but their emperor.

Nanjing is the capital of the Chinese Empire, one of the world's three [[***] empires, and the imperial palace is the brain of this country.

"Last month, we got a 36 million mark order from China..."

Sitting in the car, George? Feng? Heydrison reported to the ambassador. He looked at Feng, who was silent in front of him. Count Lex, as the ambassador to China, in addition to representing Germany's interests in China, the most important thing is to promote German industrial products in China. In this regard alone, he is undoubtedly the most successful German ambassador to China.

"George, do you remember what I said to you when you first came to China?"

Feng, who is full of ambition? Count Lex looked at the counselor sitting next to him, and at the same time he put his elbow on the car, which was a personal gift from His Majesty the Emperor. In Nanjing, only the ambassadors of the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany and France owned such a car, while in Germany, only His Majesty the Emperor had the same luxury car.

"You once said, don't look at everything in this country with the eyes of the past!"

George answered truthfully that he came to the embassy from Germany ten months ago and had the honor to witness the emperor's accession ceremony. It can be said that he fully witnessed the "birth" of this empire.

It's just that when he was in Germany and receiving diplomatic training, his views and ideas were completely influenced by the information of the old era.

"Two years ago, when I took a warship all the way from Shanghai to Wuchang, except for Hanyang, the two sides of the two sides were primitive landforms. Now, what do you think of the two sides of the Yangtze River look like?"

"Factories and chimneys can be seen everywhere on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, as well as factories under construction. According to the plan of China's political axe, they have established an industrial belt along the river. The political axe dominates heavy industry, and private capital dominates light industry. In the past 18 months, China has imported machinery and equipment products from Germany, Britain, the United States, France and Austria and Hungary 5.5 Ten thousand parts, 32,000 pieces of mechanical equipment, and nearly 4,000 pieces of technology have been introduced. This year, 45% of the world's machinery and equipment exports are exported to China. It can be concluded that China is rapidly industrialization driven by the cost of the political axe.

George spit out a series of numbers very skillfully, and these data are public, which is also the reason why Germany chose China in this war. It is these data analysis that makes Germany believe that China can win the war. Even if they lose the naval battle, in the end, he We will still be the winners of this war.

"China's market is very huge!"

Feng? Count Lex looked at the street outside the car window and said with great certainty.

"The British have seen this as early as a hundred years ago. More than half a century ago, the British opened their country with naval guns for this market, but until now, the Chinese market has still not been fully developed!"

Will it be Feng? Count Lex's eyes flashed with a trace of brilliance.

"We must see that China's economic total volume far exceeds that of Germany. Of course, their industrial economy is very low. Their economy relies on agriculture, but now the Chinese are catching up. This means that we, Germany, can completely use our own advantages to seize this market. If, China In the next few years, we will still maintain this year's number of machinery imports. Just one year's orders are enough for the whole German industry to maintain the highest start-up rate every day. Even so, we can't complete China's orders..."

"Your Excellency Ambassador, we must take into account that now China does not only purchase machinery and equipment from Germany. They send their intention to many industrial countries, and finally issue contracts from enterprises with the lowest prices and are willing to transfer technology patents at the same time. Now they purchase machinery from various countries because of their own The output of machinery is not enough to meet the needs of national industrial development. With the import of a large number of machinery and equipment and the development of the domestic machinery manufacturing industry, especially the transfer of machinery and equipment technology patents in various countries, they can produce a large number of similar and homogeneous machinery. At that time, the import volume will naturally decrease!"

George has his own views on this industrial product market. Now China's political axe purchases equipment is obviously different from that of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. They are more like themselves and Russians. When purchasing equipment, they always talk about patent technology issues. Compared with simply buying equipment, they are more willing to be together with technology. At the beginning, the French were speculative in this regard and got a large number of equipment orders. Their quotations may be higher than those of Germany, but they randomly transferred patented technology, sold parts, and sent technicians to China to help them realize the localization of machinery and equipment.

French enterprises have sufficient experience in this regard. Both Japanese and Russian enterprises have introduced a large number of mechanical equipment and patented technologies from France, while German enterprises are far behind in this regard. They did not react until they faced the huge loss of China's orders. .

And listen to George's analysis, Feng? Count Lex looked at the young man with a smile.

"Maybe, but how many machine tools do Chinese people need? When will the Chinese have enough mechanical factories? These are all problems. Just like their Ma'anshan Machinery Company, it only manufactures 10,000 pieces of machinery and equipment a year, but in the future, China needs hundreds of thousands or millions of pieces of pieces of machinery and equipment. Don't forget that this country is very large and has a large population. If the number of machinery and the proportion of people matches the population, the next 30 China needs at least 10 million mechanical equipment to maintain the same level as Germany, but in 30 years, can the Chinese produce such a large number of mechanical equipment? So they need to import!"

Feng? Count Lex's tone was very sure, and then he said affirmatively.

"So, in this war, we should show enough goodwill to the Chinese people to make them realize that when they are abandoned by the world, only Germany is still standing beside them and still their friend, which can get more contracts for our industry, at least equally or Under similar conditions, they will give priority to Germany,"

Then Feng? Count Lex said with regret.

"Two months ago, Bethlehem Steel Company and Krup Steel Company competed for the contract of Ma'anshan Steel Company's No. 4 steelmaking workshop. Our offer was lower than that of Bethlehem Steel Company, but it was because we were one thing less than Bethlehem Steel Company!"

"15,000-ton hydraulic press?"

"It's the hydraulic press, invented by Bethlehem Steel Company, and Krup Company, which has just completed the trial production. When they hesitated, a contract of more than two million US dollars was obtained by Bethlehem Steel Company. This is a contract of 10 million marks, but if we can get the advantage. In terms of preemption, then this contract must belong to Germany, and the subsequent 10,000-ton hydraulic press contract will bring a return of tens of millions of marks. Sometimes, our company is too hesitant. At this time, we must rely on our diplomats to safeguard Germany's commercial interests!"

Thoughts!

Different ways of thinking. George, who once studied in the United States for a year, said to himself in the bottom of his heart. Compared with the conservatism of German enterprises, American enterprises never mind transferring patented technology. In the eyes of American enterprises, those technologies are valuable goods, that is, that is, there is no problem in selling them, while German enterprises Patents are often regarded as a guarantee that the company's products are in the leading position, but they just ignore that in this industrial era, any industrial product can be imitated. At this time, the car stopped. George looked up and saw that the car had arrived at the palace. Looking at the palace, which never matches the name of the "three [[***] empires", George couldn't help thinking about whether the silver of all over China was taken by the emperor to buy machines and technology.

"Count Lex!"

When the door of the big living room was pushed open, Chen Moran greeted him with a smile.

"Your Majesty!"

See this emperor in a Chinese navy uniform, Feng? Count Lex quickly bent down and bowed to perform a German court etiquette.

"Okay, Lex, my friend, today, here, there is no emperor and count, only two old friends!"

After receiving a salute, Chen Moran said with a smile.

For the occasional civilian style of the "elected emperor", Count Lex just smiled carelessly, but he knew that this performance was precisely because the emperor regarded himself as a friend, which was a good sign.

"Today, I invite you to come today. I want to express my gratitude to you in person!"

Chen Moran said with a smile that yesterday sent a telegram from the embassy in Germany that the eight major German banks were willing to provide a low-interest credit loan of 100 million marks to China. Although everyone knows that this is actually a natural manifestation made by the international financial community after the South China Sea War, Chen Moran still seized the opportunity to "old "Friends" express their gratitude.

"Your Majesty, this is a manifestation of the confidence of the German financial community in your country!"

Lex replied politely that he knew that the credit loan of the 100 million mark would eventually return to the German pocket, and even the 100 million mark did not need to be remitted to China at all. The purchaser sent by the emperor would directly take the check of the 100 million mark and send it to the German industry. Orders of at least 100 million marks, if expected, will be additional orders to express their gratitude.

"In any case, I am deeply moved by the friendship from old friends. I have issued a decree to ask the technical committee to place an order of not less than 130 million marks to your enterprises. I think this is the best move for me and the Chinese Empire to express our gratitude to Germany!"

Sure enough!

Feng? Count Lex was secretly happy in his heart. This is the benefit of dealing with the Chinese. The Chinese know when and in what way to express their gratitude. The bankers who wrote the check have already calculated all this. This huge amount of money is only handed over from the left hand to the right hand, and in the process, They not only got interest, but also helped the industry get more orders.

"This war has exposed a lot of problems!"

Then, Chen Moran said solemnly.

"Sometimes, both individuals and countries have to face a real problem, that is, they will be betrayed by former friends at any time, and in this war, this problem is fully exposed!"

When the peak of the words turned, Chen Moran looked solemn on the surface, but his eyes looked directly at Feng? Count Lex, I invited him today not to tell him that the 130 million marks are so simple, but to send him a signal that Germany can read, but it can't be too direct or too obscure.

In another time and space, a person wanted to use the photos on the tower to convey the signal, but the Americans failed to understand it. Westerners were not good at guessing oriental obscure expressions, and many times they even misunderstood.

"Of course, His Majesty, whether it is an individual or a country!"

When expressing approval, Feng? The Earl of Lex began to think about the meaning revealed in His Majesty's words. Obviously, he was very dissatisfied with Britain's performance in this war, and he may even be dissatisfied with the United States. The intervention of the United States and Britain has made China face a very embarrassing situation now.

"However, Your Majesty, in the same way, whether it is an individual or a country, in the face of any situation, there will be friends by his side and never leave him!"

Feng? Count Lex did not forget to timely show Germany's position in this war to prove that Germany is China's real friend compared with other countries.

"Of course, for example, your country!"

He nodded affirmatively, and Chen Moran smiled slightly.

"This war has made me and this country realize a lot of problems! I believe that the friendship between China and Germany will deepen with time. For this reason..."

As soon as he stretched out his hand, the attendant behind him took out a document, while Chen Moran took the document directly and looked at Feng with a smile. Count Lex said when he was a little confused.

"I think maybe Germany deserves some rewards that belong to friendship!"

After handing over the documents to the close servant, the close servant directly handed the documents to Feng? Count Lex, after receiving the document, Feng? Count Lex unfolded the document and opened his eyes. After carefully looking through a few pages, he saw the last family name of the document. The name was very familiar. It was a German name. Obviously, this report was real. The document in hand, Feng? Count Lex looked up at His Majesty with a smile on his face and pressed the excitement in his heart.

"Your Majesty, I don't know Your Majesty..."

Don't wait for Feng? After Count Lex finished speaking, Chen Moran interrupted him with a smile.

"I said that Germany should and should receive the same reward as its friendship. Soon, the report will be made public, and the real surname of the report is unquestionable. Therefore, I think if Germany is interested, Germany should be China's preferred partner!"

The smile on his face was sincere, but in his heart, Chen Moran knew that this was just a bait. Now it depends on whether the German candidate chooses to swallow this bait that they can't refuse. This report can finally play his role at the right time.

And to play his role to the greatest extent. Only in this way, all this is worth it, and this is not only a bait, but also a stepping stone. It will help itself open the door to Germany and let the Germans take the initiative to put forward the requirements they need, and China can get its own from it. Need for technology and funds.

"Your Majesty, I think,"

After a moment of meditation, I took another look at the report, Feng? Count Lex answered truthfully.

"I need to report this matter to Berlin. I personally hope that His Majesty can postpone the release of this report based on the friendship between Germany and China!"

(to be continued)