Jagged Warlord

Thanks to Li Mohan's disguised support, the recruitment work of Britain and France in Shandong is progressing smoothly.In this regard, the German Minister to China Xin Ci had to take action.

Xin Ci's full German name is Paul von Xin Ci.German diplomat, naval background. Served in the German Far East Fleet in 1898.Proficient in English, Russian, and French, and good at makeup, he is a famous international spy. After 1908, he served as naval attache of the embassy in Russia and ambassador to Mexico.After the outbreak of the First World War, Kaiser Wilhelm II appointed him as the Minister to China under the fierce situation of imperialist diplomacy in China. After presenting the letter of credence to Yuan Shikai in Beijing on January 1915, 1, he immediately launched a multi-party diplomatic activity in an attempt to seduce the Chinese Communists and create a pro-German atmosphere.

Xin Ci's obstruction is nothing more than publicizing in China how difficult the journey to Europe is, how dangerous the environment in the European battlefield is, the British and French discriminate against the Chinese, and the current crazy depreciation of the pound and the franc.You Chinese have traveled all the way to Europe, risking your life to work for the British and the French, only to get a bunch of butt wipes in return, isn’t that worth it?

This kind of publicity did have good results at the beginning. With the continuous fermentation of the Laoxikai incident, the recruitment plans of Chinese workers in Britain and France were severely frustrated.However, with the intervention of the National Party, the situation has changed again.This forced Xin Ci to turn his attention to the young Shandong warlord Li Mohan.

Xin Ci's special envoy Borgman met Li Mohan smoothly, but their meeting was not smooth.Li Mohan made it clear to Borgman that he would not obstruct Britain and France from recruiting Chinese workers in Shandong because he had his own plans.

Borgman tentatively threatened: "Your behavior has seriously harmed the interests of the German Empire. After the war, the German Empire will hold you accountable."

Li Mohan smiled and said, "Don't deceive yourself. At this point in the war, it will be a war of attrition. In terms of manpower, material resources, and resources, do you think Germany has greater advantages than Britain and France?"

Borgman replied: "There is no obvious disadvantage."

Li Mohan asked: "What if the United States joins the Allies?"

Borgman didn't expect Li Mohan to ask such a question, he seemed a little at a loss, but then he replied with certainty: "Impossible, how could the United States, which is far away across the ocean, be involved?"

"Oh~~Borgman~Borgman~Borgman!" Li Mohan said in an emphatic tone of the United States: "Then you are wrong. Nowadays, countries on the earth are bound by countless chains of interests. Which country can stand alone. This war has already swept across Europe, and perhaps will sweep across the entire world. By then, any country will have to face the problem of choosing a side.”

Li Mohan handed a cup of coffee to Borgman, and said: "Britain's naval blockade of Germany is very strict, and Germany and Austria are in an extremely difficult situation. In order to save the defeat, the German High Command will probably announce the resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare early next year. In order to force Britain to surrender within six months. However, Germany’s submarine warfare seriously damaged the interests of the United States and became a fuse for the United States to enter the war.”

Li Mohan continued: "On the eve of the war, Germany had become a fierce competitor of the United States in Latin America. In 1913, the United States accounted for 28% of Latin America's foreign trade, and Germany accounted for 14.2%, but the proportion of Germany has an increasing trend. Germany has established settlements in Brazil, Argentina, Chile and other Latin American countries. In almost all Central and South American countries, there are trading companies controlled by Germans. The attempt to establish a naval base is even more uneasy. Once Germany wins the war, it will inevitably expand to Latin America and challenge the "Monroe Doctrine". Of course, the United States, which has always regarded Latin America as its backyard, cannot tolerate this."

Borgman was speechless, he felt that he came in too hasty this time, and that he was too unprepared for this handsome and shrewd young general.

"If saying that is not enough to make the Americans go to war immediately, then your country's behavior of wooing Mexico will directly cause the Americans to collectively go crazy." Li Mohan said very lightly.

"What's going crazy?" Bogman asked solemnly.

"You can understand it as anger." Li Mohan replied

"So that's the case." Borgman nodded. "That is to say, you think the German Empire will be defeated and will be unable to pursue your current hostile actions in time?"

"In fact, yes, but I have to correct one point. I never regard Germany as an enemy. I believe that the government of our country is the same. As I said just now, any country must face the problem of choosing a side. China is a weak country, it can only choose to follow the strong and continue to survive submissively, instead of taking risks with Germany."

Borgman frowned and asked, "You mean China will join the Allies and declare war on Germany?"

"Yes, things will definitely develop like this. You should have been able to see Japan's ambition and greed for China from the incident of Japan's attack on Qingdao. China must face a choice. If China continues to remain neutral, China's security will be very difficult. It is guaranteed that whether it is Germany, Britain, France, or Russia, they are all involved in the war and cannot check and balance the Japanese ambitions. Therefore, at this time, our central government may choose to declare war on Germany in order to protect the interests of the country. The way to ensure China's national security, so, when the time comes, we hope to get your country's understanding and understanding of our helplessness in declaring war on Germany."

"It's ridiculous." Borgman stood up awkwardly, spilling the coffee in his hand, "How dare China declare war on the German Empire? This is the most ridiculous joke I've heard since I came to China."

Li Mohan smiled and handed Borgman a handkerchief, "Wipe it. I think there are many places in German history that China should emulate. After the war, China and Germany will have more extensive and in-depth cooperation."

Borgman wiped his hands and said, "Okay, I'll write down everything you said today to see if you're a prophet or a big talker."

"If you don't mind, we can make a bet." Li Mohan laughed

Borgman forced a smile and said, "Okay. What's the bet?"

Li Mohan thought for a while and replied: "If anyone loses, do something for the other party. Of course, it can't be an act that endangers the country or violates morality."

"Okay." Borgman agreed.

After seeing off Borgman, Li Mohan picked up the phone on the table and called Mu Xiangyue. "Hey, Ou Chu, how is the follow-up on the dye?"

On the other end of the phone, Mu Xiangyue smiled and replied: "Chairman, I'm about to report to you. The Japanese businessmen couldn't bear it anymore and started to sell the dyes they hoarded at lower prices, but the prices were still nearly higher than our dyes." Double, there is no competitiveness at all. Big factories in Shanghai, such as Sanyuan, have already started to purchase all of our dyes, and factories in Tianjin, Wuhan, Guangzhou, and Suzhou have also sent people to negotiate."

"Okay. Then let's put the last straw on Little Japan and lower the price of dyes by another [-]%." Li Mohan was very happy.

"Yes, I understand." After Mu Xiangyue hung up the phone, she immediately grabbed another phone on the table, "Hey, tell me the sales outlets and the managers of the foreign village, and the prices of all products will be reduced by [-]%."

"General Manager, did I hear you right? How much less money is this?" The person on the other end of the phone was taken aback.

"Are you worried about this?" Mu Xiangyue asked displeased

"Yes, I'll notify you right away." The person on the other end of the phone was very knowledgeable.

Soon, a price storm of dyes swept the printing and dyeing industry in China. Low-priced, high-quality Huashang brand dyes conquered cities and territories across the country, defeating the menacing Japanese dyes.

In addition, the Japanese businessmen in China who hoarded dyes due to the instigation of Kotaro Komiyayama suffered heavy losses. Some small and medium-sized trading companies closed down because of hoarding dyes, and some large-scale trading companies also broke their capital chains. Businessmen demanding payment blocked the door every day. .

In Shandong, two-thirds of the Japanese trading houses closed down almost overnight.Three-quarters of the textile mills and printing and dyeing factories closed down.At this time, the Shandong Dyeing and Weaving Industry Syndicate, led by important figures in Shandong's printing and dyeing industry such as Shi Shaoxian, Miao Lanting, and Chen Shouting, and including almost all textile and printing and dyeing enterprises in Shandong - the Shandong Dyeing and Weaving Industry Federation was established.The federation adopted various means to crowd out Japanese companies in Shandong and even East China. By the end of 1916, except for Qingdao, almost all Japanese printing and dyeing companies in Shandong had closed down.The surviving Japanese businessmen could only retreat to Qingdao and some of the Japanese-controlled railway dependencies.

In Yu Qiaqing's mansion in Shanghai, Yu Qiaqing, Bei Runsheng and Zhou Zongliang toasted together to celebrate the victory.This time, the economic war mainly aimed at the Japanese merchants in China has won a comprehensive victory. The Japanese merchants made huge profits when they purchased a large number of dyes, and then obtained huge profits from the sales of Chinese merchant brand dyes. The wallets of these three dye industry giants are full. .

In particular, Yu Qiaqing had a good impression of Li Mohan. He said to Bei Runsheng and Zhou Zongliang: "I'm starting to be interested in this young warlord. I'm planning to go to Jinan someday and meet this Li Mohan in person."

Bei Runsheng also nodded and said, "Yes, I've only seen his photos in the newspapers. It is said that he is a handsome man. Unexpectedly, he is both civil and military, with both talent and appearance."

Zhou Zongliang laughed loudly and said, "What brother Runsheng said, I don't know which boy in the Xianggong hall I thought he was talking about."

Bei Runsheng knew that he had made a slip of the tongue, and laughed at himself: "Slip of speech, slip of the tongue~~"

Yu Qiaqing smiled and said, "In the future, we can cooperate more with this Governor Li. For example, there is an opportunity right now. His Chinese Commercial Bank is about to open in Shanghai."