Chapter 127 The disturbance of the Chinese exclusion case 1

Since he was going abroad again, Zuo Zongtang sent some other things to Hu Chuyuan to order a batch of arms for the Xiang army abroad.

Hu Chuyuan has been paying attention to this matter. The last time he left Europe, he ordered Ye Bojun and Huang Jianxun, who had further study at the Royal Army Academy, to pay attention to the update of army equipment in Europe, especially to France and Germany.

Recently, France has begun to install new rear-loading rifles. Germany's progress is relatively slow, but it is also catching up.

A few months ago, Hu Chuyuan began to rectify the forts of Mawei and Keelung, so he put Ye Boqi responsible for this matter. He purchased 42 180mm tube annealing guns from Armstrong. The price was a little high, but the increase in the rate of fire was not obvious. It only adopted the long gun barrel and brown gunpowder technology, and the range increased.

That night, Hu Chuyuan stayed in the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou and returned to Shanghai the next day.

Back to his own garden, Hu Chuyuan asked Chen Shanyuan to invite Fister Delano over and send a telegram to Rong Hong to confirm the recent specific situation.

At this time, Wanqi Yanghang has invested in the merger of Danguo Dabei Telegraph Company, and laid a main north Pacific line from San Francisco to Alaska, Vladivostok, Nagasaki, Lushun and Tianjin, which crosses the sea and connects it with the main line around the sea of Danguo Dabei Telegraph.

Through the new Wanqi Telegraph Company, it is much more convenient to communicate with the United States.

After Fist Delano arrived, Hu Chuyuan asked him carefully about the situation in the United States. Fist Delano had been in China for a long time, and he was not particularly clear, but he promised to contact some people for Hu Chuyuan to see if he could reconcile the matter.

He wanted to leave, but Hu Chuyuan told him not to be in such a hurry and left him to have lunch together.

Halfway through the meal, Hu Chuyuan asked him, "Fester, have you ever thought about going back to China to run a business?"

Fister Delano asked slightly curiously, "Why?"

Hu Chuyuan put down his chopsticks, took a sip of tea, and said, "Our recent total capital is very abundant. Although Wanqi Yanghang's business in Shanghai is large, in the United States, the market space is larger. I plan to let Wanqi Yanghang shift its focus back to the United States and use our current capital scale in the San Francisco Bay area. A big investment.

Fister Delano thought about it seriously and didn't say anything for a moment.

After a while, he and Hu Chuyuan asked, "What kind of investment?"

Hu Chuyuan immediately asked Chen Shanyuan to come over and took a map of the United States and the San Francisco Bay area. Especially on the latter map, Hu Chuyuan has drawn a lot of traces on it with a pencil.

He took this map to Fist Delano and said, "I want to build a heavy industrial metropolis in the western United States around the Gulf of San Francisco, especially in Oakland, where I want to build new steel mills, shipyards and textile mills to transport to Auckland by rail."

Fister Delano thought carefully for a moment and said, "It seems to be possible. The problem is that there is a lack of advantages. The population in the west is still insufficient, and there is not only a market in the east, but also a ready-made industrial system that can be used."

Hu Chuyuan said, "The value of the San Francisco Bay Industrial Zone is not for the local market of the United States, but for the entire Pacific Ocean and Southeast Asia, including Japan."

Fister Delano said, "That's still very promising. Maybe it's worth our investment."

Seeing that he roughly agreed, Hu Chuyuan briefly said his plan. His idea was to first buy a large amount of land in Auckland, build ports, build railways and infrastructure, invest in steel mills, shipyards, and textile mills, and then take out a large amount of portfront land and lease it to those who want to do it free of charge. It is necessary to invest in people who set up factories and provide financial support.

Through this series of measures, after the construction of Auckland, commercial centers and residences will be developed in the surrounding areas for renting and sales, continue to raise funds to run education, and increase the educational quality of the population, so that Auckland has more long-term development space.

Hearing what he said, Fist Delano agreed even more.

At this time, Fistre Delano nodded and agreed, "Yes, if it's for such a huge business project, I would like to return to the United States to deal with these things."

Hu Chuyuan said, "My plan is to merge several banks in the western United States, open a professional investment bank, and then start a joint venture with Wanqi Bank to establish a San Francisco Gulf Investment Company. I want you to be the general manager of this investment bank, and you can find a suitable person to be a partner of the Gulf Investment Company. Let him be in charge of the Auckland project.

"Is that so?"

Fister Delano is not a fool. He understands what Hu Chuyuan means... Hu Chuyuan is going to withdraw funds to invest in the U.S. market. The problem is that there is a lack of suitable candidates, so he has to return to China and handle the San Francisco Bay investment project by the way.

He weighed in his heart that according to Hu Chuyuan's current financial resources, being a partner for Hu Chuyuan is actually far more promising than working for the Russell family.

People are also different from people.

Fister Delano is watching Hu Chuyuan's rapid expansion in recent years. The momentum is so strong that it is almost unprecedented. In the United States, it seems that only JP Morgan, Rockefeller and others can be comparable.

Thinking of this, he decided and said, "Oy, I'm glad you chose me to run these businesses."

Hu Chuyuan smiled and said, "The scale of this business will be very large. In addition to the initial start-up capital, I will invest millions of dollars in additional investment every year. Therefore, I can't give you a fixed partnership for the time being. I'm considering giving you a salary of 200,000 US dollars a year and taking an additional 5% year-end dividend from the investment bank. What do you think?

Fist Delano smiled with satisfaction and said, "This is already very generous. How can I not be satisfied?"

"That's good!"

Hu Chuyuan raised his glass happily, clinked glasses with Fister Delano, and said, "Then I wish us a happy cooperation!"

"It will be very pleasant, Mr. Chairman of the Investment Bank!"

Fister Delano is also particularly happy. He owns 5.7% of the shares in Wanqi Yanghang, which is a fixed income. As long as Hu Chuyuan's support for Yanghang, these shares will continue to be distributed with rich dividends.

If the new job treatment offered by Hu Chuyuan is added, his income can at least double, and he can return to the United States calmly.

After confirming this matter, Fister Delano returned to the consulate and contacted the U.S. ambassador to China to confirm the current situation.

In the evening, Rong Hong sent a long call back to Hu Chuyuan to confirm the progress of the whole matter. He was also very anxious, but he was already prepared. The countermeasures previously discussed with Hu Chuyuan had also been carried out for two years, and everything was ready.

Hu Chuyuan immediately wirened a huge amount of $2 million to Rong Hong through Wanqi Bank, allowing him to accelerate the establishment of an American United Newspaper Company in the United States in the name of Wanqi Bank, and strive to acquire several newspapers in the near future.

It is estimated that it will take a long time to travel to the United States this time. Before the Qing court issued a formal order, Hu Chuyuan asked Hu Weiyuan to accelerate the cashing out of Shanghai real estate, so that others could also work a little harder to withdraw part of the funds. Gu Shouzang and Miao Tsuensun were responsible for other things.

He took time to go to Fuzhou to take care of the affairs of Fuzhou shipping administration.

With Tu Renshou's transfer to the Shanghai Banking Bureau, at present, Zhang Baixi, Wu Zhengbing and Zheng Qinglian are mainly responsible for the ship administration. The Keelung Railway has also been opened. The Jiangnan Mining Bureau has vigorously invested in the construction of new mining sites with the Keelung Coal Mine as the starting point.

In Fuzhou Prefecture, Quanzhou Prefecture and central Fujian, the Mining Bureau has also tried its best to explore new mining sites and prepare a new railway line with the help of Wanqi Technology Bureau.

After handling some official duties in Fuzhou, Hu Chuyuan also went to the Fuzhou Shipyard, a joint venture between Jiangnan Commercial Bank and Fuzhou Ship Administration. The situation was also smooth. It is estimated that the manufacturer ship will start at the end of the year, and the models and technologies have also been introduced from the British side, just waiting for the formation of the supporting steel mills and turbine factories.

Although the situation was good, Hu Chuyuan did not feel really relieved. He ordered Wu Zhengbing to secretly build two new docks in Luoyuan Bay, which were specially used to build gunboats and torpedo boats.

The matter in the United States is very urgent, but the Sino-French war is also coming. After Hu Chuyuan left Fuzhou, he went to Hangzhou to talk with Mei Qizhao overnight, so that Mei Qizhao was also secretly prepared and tried his best to turn the Fubiao camp in his hands into Jiangxi, and the Ningbo fort should continue to be strengthened.

Money is not a problem.

On the third day of September of the seventh year of Guangxu, Hu Chuyuan was officially appointed by the Qing court and went to the United States in the name of the imperial minister of the imperial court. On the surface, he wanted to negotiate shipping administration and trade affairs, but in fact, he wanted to secretly handle the case of China exclusion in the United States.

Prince Su's advice from the Empress Dowager Cixi is "If there is no discussion, it should also stay in the state to avoid insults by outsiders."

To put it simply, it's okay if you can't do it. At least save some face and don't let other foreigners laugh.

Hu Chuyuan already has his own armed merchant ship, the Tengchong, which is converted from a second-class waist ironclad ship, with a displacement of 3,777 tons, and belongs to the same class of warship as the Japanese first ironclad ship Fusang.

According to Hu Chuyuan's needs, Tengchong has made special changes and decorations, with complete built-in facilities and luxurious living space.

Because of the large tonnage, not all ports can dock. This ship also carries two diesel-powered wooden hull boats, each of which can carry 20 people.

The speed of the Tengchong is not very fast. The cruising speed is only 11 knots, which is slower than the new merchant ship. When it arrived in the United States all the way, it was half a month later.

October 9, 1881.

Hu Chuyuan's private armed merchant ship Tengchong docked in San Francisco.

Fister Delano, Wu Shuzhen and Ye Tongguang, a shopkeeper who was proficient in English, arrived half a month earlier than him and had already set up a hotel for him in San Francisco.

After staying in the hotel, Hu Chuyuan and Fist Delano asked about the latest situation... Generally speaking, it was a little troublesome.

After all, Fister Delano is the Consul General of Shanghai. He also knows a lot of people in the political axe and the Republican Party. As far as he knows, the current trend of the U.S. economy is very good and still needs a large number of workers and labor.

The key reason for the scandal of China's exclusion at present is to cook the issues raised by the Party, and the media has also played a role in contributing to the flames.

Since the British put forward the yellow disaster theory, this view has quickly spread to the United States, especially in San Francisco. Because the number of Chinese people is already equivalent to 20% of the local population, and the salaries of Chinese workers are very low and willing to work hard, businessmen are also particularly keen to hire Chinese workers.

As a result, the dissatisfaction of local citizens in San Francisco is increasing. In addition, the Western Railway of the United States is still under construction, and most of the hard work is also occupied by Chinese workers.

A large number of Chinese workers can already be seen at the dock in San Francisco.

The media and many politicians vowed that if this trend spread, the western United States will be occupied by the Chinese, and even the United States will be captured by the Chinese, giving birth to an extreme idea of exclusion from China.

Since 1873, under the influence of the economic crisis, the Mingzhu Party members have emerged from the shadow of the civil war and become the masters of the House of Representatives, and their containment on the whole national policy has become particularly obvious.

There are also a variety of factions within the Republican Party. The centrists, led by President James Garfield, are more cautious about this issue and advocate negotiations between the two countries to solve the problem. The hardliners led by Secretary of State James Bryan require that they join hands with the Mingzhu Party to pass a bill to completely drive the Chinese. Emissed from the United States and even did not hesitate to use force, just like the political axe Indians at the beginning.

There is a third party within the Republican Party, the moderates led by the civil war heroes and former President Grant, but they don't think this is a problem.

Constrained by the centrists and moderates, the Chinese exclusion bill may not be able to pass Congress for the time being, but once hardliners such as James Bryan and members of the Mingzhu Party are joined hands, the bill will inevitably pass.

In addition, after James Garfield was assassinated in September, the centrists also lacked a new leader, a unified coordinator, a new president, and former Vice President Chester Arthur's qualifications are too shallow to convince the public.

This is a key problem in the chaos.

In the face of this series of problems, Hu Chuyuan did not panic. Although it is difficult to reverse this situation, there are still ways not to pass the bill.

He continued to follow the plan he had designed in advance, so that everyone could do their own things according to his instructions, and not to pay too much attention to the current situation.

Because San Francisco Chronicle and San Francisco Evening News, the largest local newspapers in San Francisco, are all strong Chinese exclusion forces and do their best to vilify the Chinese, Hu Chuyuan asked Fister Delano to come forward and buy a relatively pertinent tabloid "San Francisco Citizen Times" in the name of Wanqi Yanghang, and Change the name to San Francisco Bay News.

(to be continued)