There are many people in Shanghai who want to watch movies, and there are people who don't want to watch movies. Last month, the Japanese steel delegation from North Korea to Liaodong, then from Liaodong to Shanxi, then from Shanxi to Wuchang, Nanjing, and finally to Shanghai, did not want to watch movies at all, even if the newspapers were full of movie advertisements.

Kihachiro Okura, Kishichiro Okura, Ryotaro Shimaoka, the general manager of the Okura Group, and Tokuzo Iwase, the co-organizer, have been depressed for more than half a month, and they are all frightened by the scale of the Great China Coal and Iron Works and Mines Co., Ltd. Although the Chinese are building the Benxi Steel Mill on a large scale -- investing 20 million Chinese dollars, after completion there will be 12 large blast furnaces with 500 tons of iron per day, producing 1 million tons of iron a year, and using these pig iron to make steel, producing 600,000 tons of steel per year, which is twice the size of the Japanese steel industry combined.

Although the scale is large, but after all, it has not been built, and there is inevitably some luck in the hearts of the people, and the large steel mill is not said to be built well. However, when they arrived in Taiyuan and saw the blast furnaces of the Wutaishan Iron and Steel Plant and the city-like factory area, their faces suddenly turned pale from Kihachiro Okura to the translators and documents at the bottom. Japan also wants to become a big steel country, but it lacks high-quality iron ore, which has to rely on Daye, and China not only has Daye, but also Benxi, Wutai Mountain, Ma'anshan, three super-large-scale iron mines, and countless high-quality coke, which is a natural steel power.

Excluding the Tonghua Steel Mill, Benxi Steel Mill and Hanyang Steel Mill, the Wutaishan and Ma'anshan mills alone produce more than 1.5 million tonnes of steel, and in two years, the total output of China's five major steel mills will reach 2.4 million tonnes. That's eight times the national production in Japan, and the longer it goes. The wider the gap, the wider. If the steel industry is like this, then the arms industry on this basis will also be several times larger than that of Japan. As far as the Wuhan Military Industrial Park visited by the delegation, his output was already twice that of Japanese munitions production, not including other military factories.

In the face of China's behemoth, the delegation had to admit that in terms of safety, the Sino-Japanese coal-iron joint venture actually benefits Japan more than China. And exclude security, because the joint venture is not a joint stock, but only a certain process on the market and resource allocation, therefore. Japan's steel industry has grown tremendously because of the abundant raw materials available for joint ventures. However, the delegation saw this as a harbinger of China's overtaking of Japan and becoming the hegemon of Asia. Decades of hard work since the Meiji era have not changed the fate of the empire as a vassal of China.

"Father, can we get more market share? For example, North Korea, which is very close to the mainland, can sell our steel here. Ichigan was sullen, and Kishichiro looked at Okura, who was contemplative and drinking. The silence was broken by a loud voice.

However, Okura hadn't spoken yet, but Shimaoka Ryotaro said: "Your Excellency, Benxi is also very close to North Korea, although land transportation is more expensive than sea transportation. However, Fushun is an open-pit coal mine, and where the coal is shipped to Japan, it is cheaper than the local coal in Japan. ”

"Your Excellency. Chinese steel mills have lower costs than ours, but they are more efficient than ours. If it were not for the preservation of the local market, only pig iron would have entered China. I think the Yawata Iron Works will close down next year due to the squeeze of Chinese steel. "Another backbone of the Okura Formation, Iwase Tokuzomichi, he knows that China's labor wages are lower than those in Japan, but he doesn't want to be more efficient than Japan.

"Gentlemen, we can't just look at it? Middle? Instead, we should stand in East Asia and look at the world. "After all, unlike young sons and capable subordinates, Kihachiro Okura is a chaebol and a businessman after all, although patriotism is there, profit is more important." The steel output of rice is more than 30 million tons, nearly 20 million tons of independent countries, and Britain, Buddhism, and Lu are all more than 4 million tons, even small Italy, with a steel output of nearly 1 million tons. If Asia wants to become the Asia of Asians, then the steel output of China and Japan cannot be less than 20 million tons, and at present, China and Japan together are less than 3 million tons, and we still have a long way to go.

China's sleeping lion has woken up, but it will never be so simple to surpass the empire. At present, China's steel and military industries have only reached this scale with the strong support of the Yang government, but other industries have not developed very much, even though the Yang government is trying to revitalize the industry. The competition between countries is actually a competition between nationals and nationals, can the Chinese nationals be compared with the imperial nationals? Okura said this, asking a few subordinates with his eyes, and then replied to himself, "No! China is actually the same as Lucia, and his strength is not because its citizens are superior to the empire, but because of its huge numbers. But this is just a war, and the business competition is not about who has more people, but who is better. ”

Okura finally found an advantage in the comparison of individual people, and his speech was refreshing, and just when everyone wanted to echo it to regain their self-confidence, a voice from outside the house announced: His Excellency Takuma Mitsui and His Excellency Koyata Iwasaki, the Great Treasurer of Mitsubishi, are about to arrive. Mitsui and Mitsubishi are first-class chaebols, and the Okura group is nothing more than the king of Japanese guns, and when he heard that the two big chaebol treasurers were coming, Okura Kihachiro hurriedly took everyone to the street to greet them.

Shanghai is the most prosperous place, and the prosperity of Hongkou in recent years is far better than all over Shanghai, is in a noisy street market, two Les-Royce cars came slowly, on the street lights, when seeing the golden radiator at the front end of the car, Okura Kihachiro bowed his head respectfully, and waited for Tuan Takuma and Iwasaki Koyata to get out of the car, and then greeted them respectfully.

"What a great place!" Tuan Zhuan seemed to be in a good mood, he stood in the room and spent a few times, and strangely found that through the glass window, he could actually see the tallest building in Huangpu Beach, the Shanghai Stock Exchange Building.

"Yes, Your Excellency Okura, this place is better than the branch." Sen Ke, the manager of the Mitsui & Co. Shanghai Branch, also praised the place. Before the Sino-Japanese war, he was the manager of the Shanghai branch, but during the war, he had to return to China because of China's boycott of Japanese goods. After the Sino-Japanese peace talks, he was reappointed as the manager of the Shanghai branch, and rushed to Shanghai before the big shopkeeper group.

Mitsui's people were very happy, but Mitsubishi's big shopkeeper, Koyata Iwasaki, didn't speak for a while, and Kihachiro Okura didn't know so it was difficult to consol. It was only when the clerk outside brought in the tea that he smiled and invited everyone to drink tea. Then he smiled and said, "Gentlemen, come to China for many days." What does it look like? ”

Hearing that Okura opened his mouth to call China instead of China, Mitsubishi treasurer Iwasaki Koyata said: "Okura-san." You were bought by the people of China so quickly, what benefits did they give you? ”

"How can the people of China give me benefits?" Kihachiro Okura said. "The steel production of China is several times that of the Empire, and it is impossible to catch up with them, and I am sad that it is too late. His Excellency Iwasaki recently visited the Shina Shipyard, what is the situation where? When I visited the steel mill, the person in charge told me that most of the steel was used for shipbuilding. ”

Mitsui's industries include textiles and coal mines, while Mitsubishi's industries include textiles and mining, shipbuilding and shipping are also key industries. This time, people from the Yokosuka Naval Works came to Shanghai to assist in the repair of the battleship Hiei, and Koyata Iwasaki, who had heard that the Shina people were going to frantically build and prepare to attack the mainland, went to visit the Jiangnan Shipyard. When he arrived at the shipyard, he was shocked to see that the dock was full, and then he was shocked to learn that the entire dock of more than 200,000 tons was full, and that only one kind of ship was built. He didn't know whether the people of China were making money or losing money by doing this, but in any case, according to the current method, within two years, the tonnage of merchant ships in China would exceed that of the empire. It's scary.

What's even more terrifying is that the cost of these ships is extremely low, according to the words of the person in charge of the shipyard and other information, Iwasaki Koyata can roughly calculate that the cost of these merchant ships will not exceed 100 yen per ton, which is half the cost of the current Japanese shipyards; And these ships are designed to be manufactured quickly. Many of them are equipped with diesel engines, and small-tonnage merchant ships use diesel more than coal, and Japanese ships are all old ships. It can't be changed, and the operating costs are a big difference. And so it goes. How can the Japanese shipping industry compete with the Shina shipping companies, and will all East Asian countries be all Shina standard ships in the future?

Koyata Iwasaki, who felt the huge pressure, was already displeased. Now Kihachiro Okura poked the sore spot again, and immediately said: "All the docks in China, including the Qingdao shipyard that was just taken over last month, are all lined up with orders. Because every ship is the same and simple to build, they will launch 500,000 tons of merchant ships this year, eight times as many as the empire is now......"

"Nani?! Half a million tons? Tuan pondered and was shocked. He hadn't met with Koyata Iwasaki before he came here. In addition to participating in the exposition in a few days later, another purpose of his visit to Shanghai was to entertain the compradors of Mitsui & Co. with officials of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, and the Sino-Japanese war made the compradors under Mitsui panic, and now Japan no longer has extraterritoriality, and does not drag Chinese officials to endorse Mitsui & Co., and it will be extremely difficult to carry out business in China in the future, especially now that the import of European and American goods has been reduced on a large scale.

"Yes, half a million tons." Iwasaki Koyata said: "Don't look at other places, the three shipyards in Shanghai and Shangjiangnan, Qiuxin, and Yesong alone will produce more than 200,000 tons of merchant ships this year, as well as Nanjing, Wuchang, Xiamen, Qingdao, and Lushun, because these shipyards only produce one kind of ship, the process is simple, and the ship can be launched in five months." ”

"It's crazy! If the war in Europe ends this year...... "Tuan pondering can achieve the position of Mitsui's chief treasurer, the ability is naturally no longer a problem, Mitsui bought the Miike Coal Mine at that time was his strong initiative, Mitsui bought the coal mine at a low price and then used the large water pump purchased from Europe, in one fell swoop to solve the problem of low production due to water seepage, making Mitsui Mine the most profitable business among all the investments of the Mitsui chaebol. Such an experience made Tuan Ponder understand the importance of opportunity, but it is really unimaginable that the Chinese gambled on the war in Europe with the strength of the whole country.

"The war in Europe will not end in a short time." Iwasaki Koya is too concerned about shipping, so naturally he has a deeper understanding of the international situation than Tuan Takume. "Now the only country? The army and the Anglo-Buddhist coalition are 'rushing to the sea', and the British have fully mobilized in order to keep the eastern shore of the English Channel from being controlled by the belly countrymen. The war was about to enter a stalemate trench war, and with the strength of a single country, there was no problem in delaying the war until two years later, especially since the Lu country was pinned down by China in the Far East. ”

'Running to the sea' was a special word invented by the China Times, and after the German right hook was forced to stop on the Marne line, the British and French troops and the Germans? The army tried their best to detour the other side's flank, but everyone's detour was unsuccessful, and the armies of both sides extended the trench all the way to the sea. The northernmost tip of France and the northern part of Belgium on the east side of the English Channel are extremely important, just like Pusan is to Japan, if they occupy this place, then the British mainland will be fully under the threat of Germany, and the British who feel the threat will be fully mobilized, and more than 200,000 people will be killed in half a month. Barely kept the Calais region of France.

"Two more years to go to war?" Hearing the good news, Kihachiro Okura's eyes lit up, as the king of guns. He has also been following the European war situation, but after all, his strength is limited. Not as wide as Mitsubishi's relationship.

"Okura-san, Japanese shipyards also need large-scale shipbuilding, how much steel can your steel mills provide?" Koya Iwasaki looked at the delighted Okura Michi. Japanese shipbuilders and docks are available, but there is a lack of marine steel plates, although Britain and the United States and other countries have no restrictions on the export of steel, but the freight is scary, and now if you want to build ships, you can only rely on the steel plates.

"China promised to provide enough pig iron and steel plates." Kihachiro Okura said carefully, his words made Iwasaki Koya very satisfied, but the latter sentence was not. "As long as we pay for it."

"What do you mean?" Iwasaki's eyebrows raised, and he was very uneasy.

"Now the pig iron used in China is completely in accordance with the market price, and the ex-factory price of pig iron this month is 90 yuan." Okura Road.

"Nani? Ninety... Huayuan!! Iwasaki Koya was too surprised, and Tuan Takuma and Mori Ke were also moved. The exchange rate of the Chinese dollar and the yen is similar, and the 90 yuan is two and a half times the price of pig iron in the past. With the current steelmaking technology, ten tons of iron and six tons of steel, which is equivalent to saying that the steel plate for ships will rise to more than 200 yen.

"Yes. Excellency. The people of China said that the whole country was building railways and shipbuilding, and there was simply not enough steel. Originally, it was 100 Chinese dollars, but after several discussions, the price was finally set at 90 Chinese dollars. They say steel prices are going to go up. Build yì buy more now. Okura recalled the meeting with Mu Rongchu, the general office of Great China Coal and Iron Works and Mining Co., Ltd., and was very embarrassed, although this person was not a shareholder. But he is very dedicated and unmoved by any interests.

"It's too expensive! Is there no other way? Iwasaki sighed. The previously conceived shipbuilding plan suddenly wanted to be abandoned.

"Your Excellency, it's not expensive." Okura said. "After the British pig iron was cut off from the source. The only pig iron that can be used in East Asia is the pig iron on the east coast of the United States, but the price of pig iron in the United States is also rising, requiring 20 meters per long ton, and the freight has now increased fourfold, about 22 meters a ton, and here it is 42 meters. If you count the tariffs, it is already close to fifty yuan, and according to the exchange rate, this is one hundred yuan. Compared with rice pig iron, the quality of pig iron in China is stable and the supply is sufficient, and it is impossible for us not to buy pig iron in China and transfer it to China. ”

"What about the ship's steel plates?" Iwasaki Koyata finally asked about the marine steel plate he was most concerned about, which is why he met with Kihachiro Okura overnight, without steel, the ship could not be built.

"Two hundred and forty Chinese dollars per ton, which is also sufficient supply." Okura said again a number that made Iwasaki Koya feel too painful, and made him sigh again.

"Why two hundred and forty dollars? Isn't 200 Chinese dollars okay? "Iwasaki Koya said, hateful.

"No, I can't. The 40 Chinese dollars is a special tax on marine steel plates of the Chinese government. Kihachiro Okura said. Now the National Taxation Bureau of China has imposed a special tax on all war-related materials, saying that it cost a lot of money to fight the war. ”

"Yaga!" Hearing such a lame excuse, Iwasaki Koyata was immediately furious, "The National Bank of China has now basically unified the right to issue Chinese dollars, and the issuance of paper money has exceeded one billion yuan. ”

When Iwasaki said this, Tuan Takuma also nodded, but Okura Kihachiro did not run the bank and did not know the mysteries in it, and he was puzzled: "If the National Bank of China printed hundreds of millions of Chinese dollars more, wouldn't that cause a price increase and a run?" ”

"Now everything is rising, and it is said that the government of China has also implemented a price increase order, and the price increase is what they wanted. As for the run, China is different from the empire, the original transaction mostly uses gold and silver in kind, but after all, gold and silver are too inconvenient to carry, after the paper money of the National Bank of China obtained credit, many people began to use paper money. There are more than 2 billion silver dollars in circulation, and now paper money accounts for 1 billion, and the silver dollars exchanged for these paper money are deposited in banks all over the country. This is the additional funds of the government of China, as long as the political situation is stable, at least 500 million silver dollars can be allocated for use. Iwasaki Koyata said that when he thought of Japan here, he sighed with emotion: "The greatest wealth of Shina is the more than two billion silver dollars circulating in the market, which is much more than the empire in the past. ”

Iwasaki Koyata's words made Okura Kihachiro immediately wake up and realize that he was deceived by the Shina people, but at this time the bargaining price had been set, and at the same time, the price of steel had been rising again, so he had to say: "Your Excellency, steel has always been the weakness of the imperial industry, and this time it was controlled by Shina because of the European war. If the war will end in two years, then I don't think the price of marine steel plates will exceed 300 yuan. ”

"Three hundred dollars?" Iwasaki Koyata smiled: "Do you know how much a ton of steel plate is made of 300 Chinese dollars?" More than 300 yen! But do you know how much it costs to build a ton of shipbuilding at the shipyard in China? No more than 100 yen! In other words, the cost of one of our ships is three times that of the China, not to mention that they are all diesel engines, and the operating expenses are low. The shipping industry was the backbone of the empire, and it would be a misfortune for the empire if it was surpassed by the chinensis. ”

"Your Excellency...... "Mitsubishi is the king of shipping, Okura Kihachiro knows, the comparison between the price of ships between China and Japan he mentioned is very severe, but this is also Okura can do nothing, he said: "The cause of China is only to fill the lack of ships because of the European war, and after the war the British ships come back, these merchant ships will have no goods to transport." ”

"Even if the British merchant ships come back, the shipping in the interior of China will also be recaptured by the Chinese merchant ships, and this benefit is big enough. Moreover, war is the best time for the shipping industry to make money, and controlling shipping in Asia is equivalent to controlling the prices of the whole of Asia, and now the empire has 1.4 million tons of merchant ships ranking first in Asia, but it will not be after next year. If the war were to continue for another year, there would be two million tons of merchant ships in Na China, which would inevitably challenge the position of imperial shipping and control over the pricing of goods throughout Asia. ”

Iwasaki's last words were almost shouted. This is a truth, the most hurtful thing for him, and the one thing he hesitates the most. The price of marine steel plate is so high, it is definitely not cost-effective to build a ship, after all, merchant ships do not only use two or three years, but ten or twenty years; However, if we do not build ships on a large scale, and watch the tonnage of the Chinese merchant fleet continue to rise, eventually surpassing the tonnage of the imperial merchant ships, then the pricing power temporarily gained during the war due to the withdrawal of Omi merchant ships will be lost. There is nothing more lucrative than manipulating the price of goods, and once the people of China have the power to set prices, the profits of the empire ......

Another option was to threaten or limit the merchant fleet in China with the Imperial Navy. However, as soon as this method came out, he vetoed it. China was not the Qing Dynasty, which had only a few broken cruisers, but China, which had more than a hundred ocean-going submarines, which exceeded the total number of submarines in the world. If the people of China really wanted to blockade the entire mainland with these submarines, as the legend had said, the empire would have suffered a great loss of vitality even if it was not landed by the revival army of China.

After Iwasaki Koyata finished shouting, there was an uncomfortable silence in the room, and after a while, Mitsui's chief shopkeeper pondered before he said: "Gentlemen, this time I came to China, although I didn't go to many places, but I could feel the profound changes in this country. Although we have salvaged many things in the negotiations, even the previously unresolved South Manchurian issue, and because they affirmed the Empire's contribution in the Russo-Japanese War, thus permanently retaining the Empire's special interests in South Manchuria, we have to admit the fact that this country under our feet is rising, and it is rising rapidly.

We can no longer control him and oppress him as we used to, his army mobilization will exceed two million, and this is only now, with his rise, the number of people the army can mobilize will soon exceed ten million, I don't think there is such a terrible country in the world except Lucia.

That's how grave the situation is. If we continue to regard him as an enemy, the empire will never come out; But if you can merge with him and treat him as a friend, then these two great countries will be in awe of the entire Western world. Ten years ago, the Emperor of the Independence Kingdom had proclaimed that if China were to be controlled by the Empire, it would cause a Yellow Peril that would be even more severe than Genghis Khan's Mongol army. Hehe, since Westerners are afraid, let's make the yellow peril a reality. ”

Tuan Zhumo finished smiling, and then said: "Gentlemen, this is my real idea of coming to China this time, please don't mind." If you have any doubts about my idea, you can take a look at the fair in a few days and think about whether my words are correct. (To be continued......)