Mediterranean hegemon

The Italian concession was about to be expanded, but the southern government did not say anything for the first time. Although the newspapers controlled by the Communist Party were jumping up and down, the official newspapers in Guangzhou remained silent because they knew that the terms were negotiated between the president and Zhang Zuolin, and rash opposition would cause the president's displeasure.

Although the contract for the special zone has been signed and the money is being recorded in batches, the Guangzhou government is still sincerely preparing to develop the economy. It is not just using more than 200 square kilometers of land to take away the more than 10 million units of the United Group and introducing foreign investment. The United Group is a model. If even a company as powerful as the United Group cannot survive in Guangzhou, then other countries should not try. Now it seems that the Guangzhou government's thinking is still very clear. Even the Communist International believes that it is feasible. China is a feudal country. It is natural to develop capitalism. There must be a certain foundation for socialism to occur, right?

However, the southern government did not say anything. Several other concession countries in the north became anxious and invoked the regulations one after another, hoping to expand their scope and even introduce the "most favored nation" clause. Of course, Zhang Zuolin did not dare to offend anyone and agreed to everything, but there was one thing he insisted on: since it is the most favored nation treatment, everyone should follow the terms of Italy. Both the existing concession and the newly expanded concession will be returned after 30 years. The assets belong to the Chinese government, and taxes will be paid when expanding the concession...

This, in turn, has divided all countries: countries only want to expand but do not want to return early, but Italy’s clause has such a clause. Everyone feels uncomfortable and can only blame the Italians for not following international rules and breaking the tacit understanding. .

In fact, Mussolini in Italy was also very unhappy about the return after 30 years. He was very happy with the news that Contini had expanded the concession eight times. He believed that it showed the strength of Italy and that it could finally be on an equal footing with Britain and France. However, Isn’t it too lenient to return after 30 years? It should be at least 60 years...

Contini could only smile at this: Historically, no concession in China could last beyond 1946, so let alone 30 years, it would be less than 20 years. Naturally, we should expand it first. However, this kind of nagging words could not be said clearly to Mussolini, so he changed his tone: "... Leader, early return after 30 years is a tacit understanding between me and the Chinese side. This will help the top ruling gentleman eliminate internal pressure and The interference also left other countries speechless. In fact, returning it after 30 years is just that we returned the small area we currently have. We will use the newly obtained land for 30 more years... Taking a step back, if Italy were to be strong I think it will not be particularly difficult to ask China to extend its lease 30 years later if it becomes a real world power."

This sentence suited Mussolini, so he agreed with a stroke of his pen and said that Contini would just sign the treaty.

As for the construction of a high-speed railway from Tianjin to Beijing, this is an internal matter of the Chinese government and foreigners have no right to interfere. However, since there was already a Beining railway between Tianjin and Beijing at this time, it was strongly protested by the United Kingdom, which considered it a "duplication". Construction, intensifying competition." Finally, Dashuai Zhang followed suit and said that it would be temporarily shelved. In fact, Dashuai Zhang added this railway alone at the suggestion of Yuan Jinkai. There was no good communication with the United Group at all, and Contini did not think it was necessary. It is necessary to build a high-speed railway. The current speed of Bac Ninh Railway is 40 kilometers per hour. If management is strengthened and the rolling stock is improved, there will be no problem in increasing it to 55 kilometers per hour. Building a high-speed railway of 80 kilometers per hour does not make much sense.

But this railway attracted a lot of firepower, so that not many people attacked the concession. After it was successfully completed, Marshal Zhang was very happy. Now he has mastered the know-how of political struggle. The first is to be able to bluff, and the second is to be flexible. , The third thing is to contain the left and right. To put it bluntly, you have to live and die to save face!

While both the North and the South were still hesitating, Contini was in Shanghai to discuss cooperation with Sun Chuanfang and Marshal Sun. Marshal Sun is a real person. He took advantage of the two big news in the north and south to quietly get the United Terminal matter done without even making a splash. In addition to the land, he also wanted to take something from the president's hands to achieve development and make the factory rich. Marshal Sun is not interested for the time being. What he wants is something that can make him stronger. The Jiangnan Manufacturing General Administration was destroyed by Shen Honglie. He decided to rebuild it. He did not need to build cannons, but he had to build guns and ammunition. It happened that the president collected 4 of them in one go in Italy. The rifle factory has excess production lines that can be sold. Part of Carcano's shares are also in the hands of United Defense. Now they are also happily producing 1926 rifles. The Ministry of War only wants this, and if they don't produce it, there will be no food. , its old production lines also need to be sold.

Therefore, the two parties quickly reached an agreement, and Italy exported two 6.5mm Carcano rifle production lines and some ammunition production equipment. Generally speaking, it can equip 30,000 guns and 10 million rounds of various types of ammunition a year. In addition, a bunch of scrap steel transactions were negotiated. Sun Dashuai is also a fashionable person. He is very interested in tractors and even more interested in the motorcycle that Contini unveiled in Shanghai. Contini laughed and casually 24 tractors and 12 motorcycles were brought out from the ship and handed over to Marshal Sun, who was so happy that he nodded repeatedly. Now he finally understood why the president had to take so many warships with him when he went abroad. His feelings were delivered on site with the goods. This is even better, even smuggling is eliminated, and foreign warships deliver goods directly to your door.

Contini would not return empty-handed with the ship. He emptied the warehouse of scrap steel and used it to pile up tungsten sand and other stuff, which he then turned into high-quality machine steel and military steel for resale when he returned home. In addition to military and land, the two sides also discussed other commercial cooperation. Contini decided to open a Chinese branch of United Bank in Shanghai. He also planned to build a super mall, introduce Italian fashion brands and industrial civilization to China, and also planned to build a large oil depot to sell North African oil products to China. Sun Quanquan Agreed, he knew that the Italians were not in the opium business, and they did not do many other things that involved plunder and robbery, so they were very ideal partners for cooperation.

According to a later commentator's article: "Italian businessmen are neither as cunning as British businessmen, nor as arrogant as Chinese businessmen, nor as arrogant as Japanese businessmen, nor as philistine as American businessmen. The products they export meet market demand, and China needs, is positioned as a middle class, has fair prices and good taste, and is quite popular among Shanghai residents...

At that time, living in a United community, riding a United motorcycle or taking an Admiral or Fiat car, listening to United radio, going to United cinemas to watch Italian movies, and going to United shopping malls to buy European goods were all fads. Men and women had a deep appreciation for Italy. The style and romance are all captivating, especially the movie based on the wedding ceremony of the CEO and Miss Ada was screened for 24 times in Shanghai, and everyone was amazed. The scenes in the movie are so beautiful and unique in the world!

In addition, United Express, United Water Pipe, United Kerosene, United Pharmaceuticals, etc. have all been marketed in China for many years and are widely praised..."

This is just a perceptual understanding on the surface. In fact, experts have conducted much more in-depth research. They concluded that since 1927, Italian product exports to China have been on the rise, even if special commodities such as scrap steel are not included. , Sino-Italian trade volume increased more than 20 times in 10 years. Initially, Italy's trade with China was only a pitiful 0.9%, ranking last among the major powers, even worse than Belgium and other countries. After 10 years, it increased to 10.6%, surpassing France and Germany is left behind, ranking fourth after the United Kingdom. The top three are the United States, Japan, and the United Kingdom. If scrap steel and other arms are included, Italy's trade share with China can reach more than 19.7%, surpassing the United Kingdom and ranking third. , which is quite close to Japan, which has a share of 22.4%. Of course, the United States still leads the way with more than one-third of the share. The question is, what is the size of the United States and what is the size of Italy?

Coerced by this wave, the Italian Army, which continued to export scrap steel, was also rapidly changing its equipment. At first, it was unwilling to let Carcano Company produce the 1926 rifle and had to be reserved. Later, it came up crying and shouting because they discovered that the Army It’s not updating hundreds or hundreds, it’s updating thousands or even tens of thousands. If we don’t seize the opportunity, even the accessories for old rifles will no longer be bought. So we had no choice but to compromise, not only did United Defense Holdings, but also honestly embarked on the road of 7.92mm 98k. As for the 7.92mm semi-automatic rifle that Contini had high hopes for, after Garland's continuous improvement, a new model was submitted. After verification, it is optimistically expected to be put into service in 1930, and the name 1930 combination rifle has also been decided.

Now all rifle companies in Italy are producing at full capacity, and even Germany's Mauser and other arsenals are also producing at full capacity to supply Italy's needs. In contrast, the Weimar Wehrmacht's replacement speed is very slow. It's not that they don't know about the new rifles. It's easy to use, but the Weimar Defense Forces are short of money. There is such a big price difference between new and old rifles. Italy has a joint group to fill it for the War Department. Who can Germany find to fill it? Of course, it is absolutely impossible to have no money, so Germany can only find a way to dump the excess old G98 and other old-fashioned artillery to the Italians for disposal in the Far East, and then exchange money to buy new equipment.

This made everyone in the defense force dissatisfied with the Weimar government. In their words: They were all German officers. What was the life like for their colleagues in the oil guards? New guns, new artillery, new tanks, new aircraft, even new submarines, new warships, much higher salaries, and more wars to fight. We even dared to fight against the French in Algeria. Listening to this makes us feel relieved. What we are living is... What day? He was beaten to disgrace with homemade weapons in Munich!

When the German Army was marching across Europe, where was Italy? Right now, Germany's economy and technology are far more advanced than Italy's. To get to this point of embarrassment, this is definitely a systemic problem! I can't get through this day! Even if the president is Hindenburg, it won't work!