Open an aircraft carrier to fight against Japan

Giles looked at Lin Yuan hesitantly, as if he felt that he was different from the officials he had come into contact with, Lin Yuan continued: "Anyway, I would like to thank you for being considerate of the people, but don't worry, we definitely have The ability to build these places into the best places, so that ordinary people can live a good life."

"Also, if you want to give me a low-interest loan, I don't need it. As for railway technical assistance, it is even more unnecessary. I believe you have also heard about our railway construction plan. One is from Beijing to Yunnan, and the other It was built from Beijing to Shanghai, these two are the main railway lines, and there are more branch railway lines around them."

"These two railway lines, one passing through the plateau and mountains in western China, and the other passing through the plains and water in southeastern China, are the most difficult to construct in the world. Think about it, since I have the confidence to approve these two railway projects, you should Do you know what our technical level looks like?"

After hearing Lin Yuan's words, Gilles didn't speak for a long time, and said in a whisper, "Is this thing true?"

Lin Yuan said: "How can such a big matter be fake?"

Gilles shook his head lightly and said: "I have received information that the density of your rails is as high as 75 kilograms per cubic meter, and the rails are welded to form a seamless railway. I specifically consulted our country's railway experts. They Everyone said that this is simply impossible, so I didn't believe it."

Lin Yuan smiled and said, "Then let me tell you, these are all true." After Lin Yuan said this, he saw the disappointment on Giles's face, and Lin Yuan thought to himself: "Why hasn't he bribed me yet?" What? When Elijah came to me before, he should have given me money! Maybe they found out that they had been cheated, so they stopped giving me money.”

Gilles smiled and said, "Then I'll take my leave first. We'll have a meeting later. The special envoy of Mongolian Jebuzundamba wants to meet me. You don't know, I'm very interested in Eastern culture."

After Gilles finished speaking, he gave Lin Yuan a meaningful look, but when he walked to the door, he stopped suddenly, turned back and said to Lin Yuan, "Actually, we can make a deal."

Lin Yuan asked, "What deal do you want to make?"

Giles laughed and said, "Do you know about Zhebu Zundamba?"

Lin Yuan had heard from Lu Wansu, so he knew that the high-ranking Mongolians headed by Zhe Bu Zun Danba wanted to be independent. whats the matter?"

Giles said with a smile: "The Mongolian princes have always wanted to stand on their own, but with their own strength, they couldn't do it at all! They sent a special envoy to me this time just to discuss these things."

Lin Yuan sneered, "You want to split our country!"

Giles smiled and said: "There is no justice in this world, only power. You have dealt with foreign countries a lot. You don't know this truth. We can make a deal. If you agree with me about the three What do you think of the proposal of an international condominium in one place, then we will no longer support Mongolia's pursuit of independence?"

Lin Yuan said: "As you said, there is only power in this world, and there is no justice. I don't want to talk about this matter. If you think you have the strength to separate Mongolia from our country, please go ahead." ! See you on the battlefield."

Giles smiled and said, "Very well, you are truly a respectable opponent, and I look forward to formal negotiations with you."

As soon as Gilles left, news came from outside that Chinese businessmen in Russia hosted a banquet for Lin Yuan and others, hoping that Lin Yuan would lead the mission to participate.

Lin Yuan readily agreed, so he took all the members of the mission to the banquet venue - Shanxi Restaurant. In the Qing Dynasty, most of the Shanxi merchants who traded between China and Russia were famous Shanxi merchants in Chinese history. I opened a restaurant in Shanxi, and most of the people who come here are Chinese.

When Lin Yuan arrived, Lu Wansu and many Chinese businessmen had been waiting at the door for a long time. As soon as Lin Yuan arrived, Lu Wansu introduced to Lin Yuan the people who came this time. They are all famous in Chinese history. The shopkeeper of a big firm.

After the banquet started, just as Lin Yuan finished addressing everyone, Lu Wansu stepped forward and said, "Shuai Lin, can we go inside and talk."

Seeing Lu Wansu's solemn expression, Lin Yuan knew that he must have something important to discuss with him, so he went to a separate room with him. Lu Wansu asked his servant to go out, then closed the door tightly, and knelt down on Lin Yuan's door. In front of him, he said: "Please Lin Shuai save us!"

Lin Yuan quickly helped him up and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

Lu Wansu looked embarrassed, and after thinking for a long time, he said: "This matter is a long story, let me tell you slowly, our Dashengkui and other merchants, such as Xinglongkui of the Fan family, Qiao The biggest business in Russia is tea. In the past, only us merchants from Shanxi sold tea from China to Russia. However, in the past 30 years, Russian merchants have also started to sell tea. When they came, our sales suppressed."

Lin Yuan asked: "How is it possible? They are newcomers, so they can have an advantage over you?"

Lu Wansu said: "Of course, we do not produce tea in the north of the Qing Dynasty. The places where tea is produced are all in the south. Our process of selling tea is like this: buy tea from the south, go back to Shanxi by land, and then go east Zhangjiakou enters Inner Mongolia for trade, or goes to Shahukou from the west and trades around Guihua City."

"But the Russians are different. After they bought tea, they went directly from Hankou to Shanghai by taking the Yangtze River, and then took the sea to Tianjin, and then traded from Tianjin to Zhangjiakou. In this way, their shipping costs are much lower than ours. .”

"Freight is one aspect, and the second is the cost of making tea bricks. Loose tea leaves are not easy to transport, so when we transport, we press the tea into blocks, which are shaped like bricks, so we call this kind of thing tea bricks. Our The workshops are all manual, and the big machines used by the Russians save a lot of money here compared to us."

Lin Yuan asked: "So that's the case, so can't you also use waterways? Can't you build mechanized factories?"

Lu Wansu sighed, and said: "We think about it too, but the Russians don't pay taxes at all when transporting goods by water, but we have to pay a lot of money by water, and the cost is much higher than that by land. What’s the point? Foreigners don’t collect taxes when transporting goods on our land, but we have to collect taxes when transporting goods on our own land! If we want to build a factory, there is no technology, and the second is exploitation by officials. Failed."

Lu Wansu went on to say: "Our tea freight is higher than that of the Russians, so the price is also higher than that of the Russians. The big Russian tea merchants do not buy our goods, so we can only sell the tea to small tea merchants, but these small tea merchants The business cost is small and the profit is small, so we allow them to get the goods first, and then pay after the goods are sold, but these small tea merchants are squeezed out by the big tea merchants everywhere, and many of them can’t pay at all when it comes to checkout. I just got the news , We have not asked for [-]% of the payment for the goods.”

"In fact, this kind of thing has happened more than once. We have asked the imperial court for orders before, hoping that the imperial court can come forward to help pursue it, but no one has paid any attention to it. It is the same this year. People outside are not aware of this matter. , if they know, there will be chaos!"