The moonlight was pleasant, and Yang Rui, who was thinking that he could rest, heard that Yu Qiaqing asked to see him. He didn't want to see it, but thinking of the stock market in Shanghai and the strange price of silver, he had to change his clothes and go to the living room.

"Guilty! Guilty! Disturbing the Prime Minister so late...... "Yu Qiaqing was broken when she came, which made Yang Rui feel extremely annoyed.

"Brother Ade, you better forget it." Yang Rui picked up the tea, blew open the tea leaves, and took a sip carefully. "Tell me, what are you looking for me like this, are you here to find out the news, or are you here to reveal the news?"

Hearing Yang Rui's words about his intentions, Yu Qiaqing sneered and said: "This..., it's all there, it's all there." The day before yesterday, I heard that the government was going to revitalize agriculture and overhaul roads, but I don't know if it's true......"

More than half a month ago, the China Times let out the wind about the discussion of revitalizing agriculture, but it mainly described the current poverty situation of rural peasants and warmed up for future policies, but the overhaul of roads was not announced ....... Yang Rui looked at Yu Qiaqing with some sternness; "Where did you get this news?"

Haha, Yu Qiaqing felt that he was right from Yang Rui's reaction, and said happily: "The Ministry of Transportation asked Hubei Cement Factory to report the cost details some time ago, and also estimate the price of the product after the expansion of production, doesn't this make it clear that the road needs to be overhauled." Although the Hubei Cement Plant is Cheng Zufu's, but there are a lot of shares of Song Weirun (Weichen) in it, since it wants to expand the scale, whether the money is self-raised or loaned by the State Bank, it is always necessary to convene a meeting of shareholders. ”

Yu Qiaqing has always been shrewd, but Yang Rui did not believe that the government was going to overhaul the road with a single inquiry, and he asked: "The Ministry of Industry inquires about everything, but it is not just this cement......

"But I became a brother, as the saying goes, 'If you want to be rich.' Build roads first' and revitalize agriculture. If the roads are not passable, how can the food be transported? The reason why Sichuan and Huguang are granaries is not because these grains can go down the river. Low cost. If we want to revitalize the country's agriculture, can we dig canals to transport grain? Yu Qiaqing smiled.

What Yu Qiaqing said was the same as the truth, and Yang Rui couldn't tell whether it was true or false, so he said: "Ade came so late to ask if this came?" You'd better just say what's going on. ”

"Actually, there is nothing to do, but many people are talking about it, saying that the government will rely on mud legs to sit in the world in the future, and we businessmen are dispensable. The big guy is very worried, afraid that the world will be muddy after all. Yu Qiaqing said. Although he spoke, it was still obscure. I don't know what this means.

"If you don't fully fund industry and commerce, there are people who are worried. Hehe, if this is the case, then the Manchu Qing Dynasty did not reward industry and commerce, wouldn't these people even dare to go out of their homes? Yang Rui smiled. Besides, those who are worried have a few pounds and taels, and they are embarrassed to blackmail the government? Do you really think that the walls of the concession are higher than the sky, and the revival army cannot enter it? ”

The murderous aura began to appear between the words, and Yu Qiaqing smiled at the moment: "I became a brother." This ......, is harmony precious? The business gentry in Shanghai had absolutely no intention of going against the government. ”

"I don't have any intention of dealing with these gentry, but with their assets of less than 200 million taels, don't take yourself too seriously. The government doesn't care what it revilates. The ultimate goal is to grow the economy and make the market more prosperous than before. Revitalizing agriculture or revitalizing industry is, in the final analysis, a question of means. Thinking that the government will help him monopolize the business of the whole world. Drought and flood to ensure harvest, this is simply a dream! Yang Rui said. The dynasty was not Manchu. Business will always reward only small, promising companies, those that are big and useless, and rely on scale to support the scene. It's not a pity to die at all. ”

"But if the company is too small, how can it compete with foreign goods?" When Yu Qiaqing heard about the government's latest strategy, she was very uneasy, the company was too small, how could it have credibility and strength.

"It's better to be big than fine." Yang Rui said: "If you do a thing very well, the company can also do a lot, the key is whether he is competitive." It is not a special industry, and the government will not endorse large companies, so that he only relies on government resources, rather than relying on his own advantages to occupy the market. In other words, the government does not allow large companies to collude with officials and businessmen to make undue money, and those who have the ability can make the company bigger, but as long as it does not break the law. ”

Some time ago, there was no news after the Shanghai General Chamber of Commerce submitted a letter, and then I heard some rumors in the market, so that Yu Qiaqing asked for a meeting overnight to clarify the government's final attitude. After understanding what Yang Rui meant, Yu Qiaqing said: "Although the import of foreign goods has stopped now, when the war is over in Europe, the situation will become the same as before, and everyone can't do much in this situation." ”

"Tariffs, huh?" Yang Rui smiled, "This problem is easy to solve, but you have to promise me one thing." ”

"Brother Cheng, please speak." Yu Qiaqing hurriedly said. Like government funding, tariffs are a tight spell on the heads of Chinese businessmen, and if they really go, there is nothing bad to agree to.

"It's hard to say." He asked so quickly, but Yang Rui was not in a hurry to say. "If you don't fight with foreigners, you won't be able to recover the tariffs. Just like when we fought with Japan, as long as we fought, we would win, but many of the officers and soldiers of the Renaissance Army were born with mud legs, and although tariffs were related to the country's livelihood, they were not as important as you businessmen, so ...... In the future, if the government proposes some bills to help farmers, it would be better for the business circles in Shanghai to support it, so that they will have the morale to fight the foreigners to the death. ”

"A bill to help farmers?" Yu Qiaqing said silently in his heart, but he immediately thought of another thing, and said: "Once there is a war with the foreigners, then what should I do in Shanghai..., can I hold it?"

"Shanghai?" Yang Rui said: "If the negotiation fails, the war will only be fought at sea, then will it go ashore?" Ade, do you think the powers that have finished the European war still have the strength to send troops to attack Shanghai? ”

"This ......" Yu Qiaqing's understanding of the European war is just an ordinary person's opinion, after all, the great powers are the great powers, and they still have great weight in his heart. He pondered for a moment before saying, "It would be best if we could negotiate a solution." ”

"Yes, I also went to negotiate, and once the war started, it would be hundreds of millions of military spending, how could I have so much money." Yang Rui said lies quietly, and if he wanted to laugh, he had to take a sip of tea. "You can tell those people that as long as they support the government, the government will never treat those who support them badly."

"I see!" Yu Qiaqing got this sentence. Don felt that this could be handed over, and his expression suddenly became happy.

"What the hell is going on in the stock market?" After talking about Yu Qiaqing. Yang Rui began to ask about the things he cared about, "And the price of silver." One to thirty-eight, I remember that it was only one to thirty-four last year, and it has been about one to thirty-three in the past few years, how could it fall so outrageously? ”

"The stock market and the price of silver are one and the same, and it really has nothing to do with us." Yu Qiaqing said with a wry smile: "In the final analysis, the price of silver in London has fallen, and everyone sees that the market is so volatile, and they are afraid that the stock market will fall sharply, so many well-informed people have withdrawn their money from the stock market." We are on the silver standard. The foreigners are on the gold standard, and if the price of silver is suppressed to 1:38, it is equivalent to appreciating the value of the foreigners' money by more than 10%, so that they can buy goods. ”

The price of silver fell by more than a dozen points, which had a great impact on foreign trade, and in terms of domestic, the depreciation of silver was conducive to exports, but now it is in a state of war, and foreigners want special materials. The fact that the purchase of general materials is not made or is reduced, and the demand for war is rigid, and there is no situation where large quantities are purchased at a cheap price, it is said that the depreciation of silver is extremely unfavorable to exports. However, China uses silver but produces less silver. And the world silver market is in London, and the price of silver is completely out of control, so I can only sit and be stunned.

"Is it possible for the price of silver to fall again?" Yang Rui asked. He had asked the National Bank before. Now I want to hear Yu Qiaqing's opinion.

"If it falls again, it's all one to thirty-eight. Even if it falls, it will not fall below forty, at most until forty. Yu Qiaqing said. Now, except for the United States, all countries are not allowed to leave the country, and one tael of gold can be exchanged for thirty-eight taels of silver at the market price, but who will have gold to exchange it? Since there is no gold to exchange, what can the price of silver be? As long as silver is not exported on a large scale, no matter how low the price of silver is, it will not hurt the fundamentals, at most the goods exported are cheaper, but now the prices of those goods that foreigners want have not increased, and this discount is not a big problem, and the price of gold cannot reach the sky. Yu Qiaqing said.

"It's not cheaper, the yen has lost half of its value yesterday. But what about us? The physical currency is still being used, and the customs are in the hands of foreigners, and the Chinese yuan can't be depreciated even if it wants to. Yang Rui said loudly, he said the current financial predicament, very annoyed. Customs, concessions, railways built by foreigners, compradors everywhere, foreign currency exchange, these things are firmly rooted in the fat of China, but the government can only control the centigold, and only use guò centigold to protect the domestic economy, which is far from enough.

"This ...... Isn't it true that tariffs have been redrawn for Japanese goods? Yu Qiaqing said. Besides, everyone knows about this, so the price of the goods is naturally twice as expensive as before, and it is not a big deal. ”

"Don't talk about this," Yang Rui felt a little excited just now, and what had nothing to say to Yu Qiaqing about this matter, so he chatted with him a few more words and served tea to the guests.

Although the guest room in the convention and exhibition center is comfortable, it is very small compared to the Prime Minister's Palace, and when he returned to the inner room, Cheng Ying asked: "You were so loud just now, I thought you lost your temper again." ”

"It's not like a tantrum tantrum." Yang Rui shook his head and said, "It's just this state affair......"

"What's wrong with state affairs, isn't it all good now. Airplanes can also destroy locusts, this is a strange news in the world. The incense in the imperial palaces around the country has flourished a little more, and the people are grateful to the emperor. Cheng Ying took today's newspaper and said with great interest.

"What about being grateful to Dade, now foreigners are secretly bleeding this country, but I can't stop it, it's really unreasonable." Yang Rui is still annoyed, this is an era of physical money, and the financial control methods of later generations may not be easy to use now. Only after the concession was recovered and the one-qiē privilege was abolished, and the currency standard was changed from the silver standard to the gold bar standard, could the government truly control the domestic financial market to prevent the damage caused by the manipulation of the gold and silver comparison.

With such thoughts, Yang Rui fell asleep, because the next day was not the opening ceremony of the expo, and he was bored for a day. It was only on the morning of the 15th that the exhibition organizers sent a car to greet them, and the expo really began. But since Zhu Kuanji is here, he just went to stand at the opening ceremony and show his face. At half past eight o'clock in the morning, after the reading of the holy decree announcing the opening, the exposition salute shook the sky, gongs and drums were everywhere, and in the exhibition area of tens of thousands of square meters, the first batch of people who came in to visit all shouted long live, and the Asian International Trade and Commodities Expo, which had only three months in preparation, officially began.

Prior to this, public opinion from all walks of life said that the exhibition hall made of steel and glass was beautiful, which was unparalleled in the world and comparable to the world; He also said that there was cool air in the museum, and after entering, he did not feel hot at all, and the smoke was like a spring day; He also praised the convenient transportation of the expo and the fact that there were more seats, restaurants and other facilities throughout the venue. Convenient for tourists.

The newspapers were full of good things, but what they praised was hearsay. It's just a cloud of people. The real most commendable thing about the exhibition is the military products that are planted, except for the frighteningly cheap smokeless explosives. There are also torpedo bombers and fighters in active service with the Baath Army. Not to mention that the plane was painted like a vicious beast, the machine gun mounted behind the propeller on the plane alone made the British and French troops who were ravaged by German planes in the European theater shout "Luck".

The machine gun firing coordinator will appear on the battlefield in Europe two years in advance, and how many more planes will be consumed, Yang Rui can't guess, but when he saw a group of foreigners praising God around those planes and asking for a price, he just sneered in his heart.

"This is ......" tanks are absolutely not allowed to be exhibited, but on the other side of the aircraft exhibition hall. A wheeled truck is very windy.

"Back to the Prime Minister, this is the van." The truck was produced by Tonghua Diesel Engine Factory, and although the manager in charge here hung a sign around his neck, it was the opposite, and Yang Rui did not see his name; And he was excited by the arrival of the prime minister, and he simply forgot that this omission had deprived him of a golden opportunity.

"Diesel? How many tons can it hold? "The truck is boxy, and Yang Rui is very interested in it.

"Back to the Prime Minister, this car can hold three tons, and it is a diesel engine." said the manager of the diesel engine plant. "Actually, five tons can be loaded, it's just a little slower."

"Oh." Yang Rui agreed, stretched out his hand to open the door of the truck, and found that the car was still very simple. At this time, the manager introduced: "This car is four-wheel drive. With thirty horsepower and a top speed of thirty-five kilometers, it can also drive smoothly in the wilderness without solid roads. So that the troops can move quickly. ”

"Oh..."Yang Rui finally understood what this car was for, it was the vehicle of the Motorized Brigade that followed the tank troops. It was still experimental. Based on the principle of battlefield experience, the general queen is ready to sell it to the European theater to see the actual combat effect. It comes to mind that France is now declaring war on China. Yang Rui asked, "Are there any French people who have come to see it?" ”

"Back to the Prime Minister, there is. And the Russians. The manager replied: "The Russians have already bought two, saying that they will try them, and if they use them well, they will probably order a hundred." ”

"Russians?" Yang Rui smiled weirdly. Among the Entente countries, Russia's military supply capacity is the weakest, and it is said that after the troops in the early stage were annihilated, the Russian army in the later period was three people with one rifle. Of course, Russia is also the poorest, but if he can buy it with gold, it would be better to say that if it is paper money.

"Sir, it's the Grand Duke of Russia Mihailovich who has arrived. As soon as he came in, he ordered not only planes, but also huge quantities of smokeless gunpowder and shells. Fei Yugui, who was accompanying him, said that he was the person in charge of the exhibition, and after Zhu Kuansu attended the opening ceremony, he accompanied Yang Rui around. Although he was not at the command office, he was constantly reported to him on the situation of transactions, especially arms transactions.

"What did he pay for, gold?" Yang Rui asked with a smile.

"It's the pound, we only take pounds, dollars, and gold. The value of various currencies also varies, with the British pound being the lowest. "Fei Yugui said." However, in terms of performance, our aircraft are the most advanced in the world, and the price of smokeless gunpowder is also the cheapest, and the price of shells and firearms is not too high, and the most important thing is that it is in stock. Make a decision today, you can pick up the goods tomorrow, and the merchant ship is ready, it is simply a door-to-door delivery. ”

In order to obtain the greatest economic benefits and open up the market in a short period of time to gain a good reputation, the prices of most military products are relatively fair, while the price of smokeless gunpowder is only 2,500 taels per ton, which is outrageously low, and it is believed that it will not be long before the Chilean government will protest against this, and it is believed that more than half of the money he earned in World War I will flow into China.

According to the overall estimate, the saltpeter trade alone has more than 100 million sales a year, and if the whole world abandons saltpeter and uses our smokeless explosives, then there are hundreds of millions of profits here. However, the CIA was not optimistic about this, and the military production of the Entente countries had long been controlled by the financial oligarchy of various countries, and Chilean saltpeter was also controlled by it. No matter how much money is spent on saltpeter, it still falls into the hands of the financial oligarchs from the pockets of the Allied governments, and they will not earn a penny from buying Chinese smokeless explosives.

In addition to some leading figures in Shanghai, the first batch of visitors to the expo included compradors of foreign banks in Shanghai and representatives of chambers of commerce in various places. But this is obviously impossible, unless the foreign bank can meet the sales target set by the factory. And accept the price adjustment every month. These are unacceptable, in the various exhibition halls. It is often seen that high-spirited foreigners come in high spirits and return in disappointment.

Li Deli, the general office of the Bnemen Company, looked at the caustic soda booth of Tianhua Company and turned blue, soda ash is an industrial raw material in great demand, now the supply in Europe is insufficient, the price of Bnemen in Asia has tripled, more than 221 tons, but now the caustic soda produced by the Chinese is sold according to the pre-war price, which will completely occupy the soda ash market of Bnemen Company in Asia; Moreover, the large demand for soda ash, the soap market will also be robbed by them. This is unacceptable to the foreign company and even the head office of the company.

"Sir, they don't accept exclusive agents, they can only authorize regional distributors." When Li Deli stood at the booth to observe China's soda ash carefully, his assistant went to the negotiation office to inquire about the agency and had just returned.

"What is a regional dealer?" Li Deli suppressed his dissatisfaction and asked in a deep voice.

"It's that we can be authorized to sell their products in one region, but there are at least two agents in that area......" said the assistant. But before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by Li Deli, "How is this possible, the two agents will have a vicious price competition, and in the end everyone will not have the slightest profit." ”

"Yes. That's what I'm against, sir. But the Chinese say that the price of the products distributed in the sales area is fixed, and no dealer can sell them at a reduced price. They will send a market researcher to investigate on a regular basis, and if they find that there is a price reduction, then the dealer will be disqualified. and forfeiture of the security deposit. By the way, dealers also have fixed sales tasks every month. If you can't complete the sales task for several months in a row, the distribution qualification will also be cancelled. "The assistant introduced the dealer system of all evils. Very dissatisfied. "The Chinese think their goods will be in short supply, but this is clearly wrong."

"Do you know how they produce soda ash?" The exclusive agent of soda ash in China is just a ploy, what Li Deli really wants is where these high-quality soda ash are produced, how to produce, how large the scale of production is, and what is the cost, which is very important for the parent company.

"Sir, the Chinese said he didn't know either, he only said that the company's annual output is more than 10,000 tons." The assistant said. The figures he said made Li Deli hard to believe, when will the Chinese be able to produce so much soda ash, is it the discovery of new trona ore? Li Deli thought about these questions, he watched the crowd still stand at the booth for a while, and finally thought of a more feasible way to exit the Tianhua company's booth.

When Li Deli returned to the concession for afternoon tea, the general offices of other foreign banks were also talking about the problem of the Chinese refusing to authorize exclusive agents. In addition, everyone thinks that the business of the Chinese is becoming more and more difficult, before the crazy price increase of various raw materials, and they still refused to sign a fixed supply contract, and now they are unwilling to grant exclusive agency rights.

"Gentlemen, I believe that the Chinese are ostracizing us, ostracizing us in every way." Kessel, the general manager of Baoshun Foreign Company, tapped the teacup with a silver spoon and began his impromptu speech: "They even have a saying, that is, to take back the control of the customs...... Kessel said this, the merchants in the hall were booed, he saw this and then tapped the teacup hard, and then said loudly: "We must not let Chinese succeed!" Gentlemen, I mention that in order to bring the Chinese to their knees, we should boycott their goods, and those factories will end up at our mercy because of a lack of cash. ”

Kessel stated his plan, but his mention was not accepted by everyone, and a voice sitting in the far corner said, "Sir, this is impossible. The Chinese are just unwilling to be an exclusive agent for military products, they have their own agents, and if we boycott Chinese goods, then the end result will be that the Chinese will open the company directly to London or whatever. Gentlemen, this is war, not peacetime. ”

"Nope. I guess we should give it a try. Li Deli, who did not want to join the discussion, suddenly said in a loud voice, "The Chinese have just finished the war with Japan, and the war with Russia has not ended, they need money, I don't think they will give in if they don't need to resist for a long time." (To be continued......)