Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 256 Meeting the Japanese Again at Sea (Part [-])

Although he promised to go to the meeting, Cheng Nuo still hesitated in his heart.

From an objective point of view, it cannot be said that the Beiyang government has done nothing to promote industrialization. After all, Yuan Datou once directly issued an order to order the local authorities to take advantage of the European War to develop my country's industries quickly.

The Yuan Datou government also agreed to the 100 million yuan that Qiuxin Machinery Factory borrowed from the French Bank Agricole.

However, the so-called isolated evidence cannot stand. Generally speaking, the support given by the Beiyang government to the machinery industry is quite weak, and the industries it focuses on supporting are mainly light industry and handicraft industry.

In addition, China at the beginning of the century was an agricultural country, and the comparative advantages of its early industrialization existed in traditional industries such as silk and tea, as well as light industries oriented to mass consumption such as cotton textiles. This made it difficult for heavy industries to develop in accordance with the traditional "natural order".

"No, this can't be said too absolutely. Although the Beiyang government mainly represents the interests of big landlords and warlords, it does not reject industrialized economic policies. Especially some business people can also participate in the political power. At least they can treat us I don't reject it. And I always rely on borrowing to survive, and my finances are always under some pressure.

Moreover, steel is an important material for weapon production. From the perspective of armament consolidation, the Beijing government also needs to develop the steel industry. Coupled with the impact of World War I, the price of steel as a war preparation material has soared. I believe the Beiyang government is also seeing it and is anxious. "

After carefully weighing the "weight" in his hand, Cheng Nuo simply packed his bags and headed to Beijing with Chen Zhaoqiang.

"Zhiyuan, I heard that you are from Beijing? After wandering for so long and haven't returned, you must be homesick, right?" On the deck of the ship, Chen Zhaoqiang put down the book in his hand and took the initiative to talk.

"General Chen, you have misunderstood me. I'm not from Beijing. I just happened to be working in Beijing after returning to China." Cheng Nuo said politely, wearing sunglasses, looking at the sea and sky in the distance.

Chen Zhaoqiang was slightly surprised: "Oh? It seems that I am a little self-righteous, but your accent really has such a taste of Beijing dialect."

Cheng Nuo smiled: "Haha, then I will automatically assume that General Chen is praising my language talent."

At this time, both of them were preoccupied, and after saying this, the scene fell into an embarrassing silence.

Hearing the sound of the waves crashing, Cheng Nuo suddenly looked back and said, "I heard that Xu Shichang is now the president, and Duan Qirui and Feng Guozhang have been kicked out?"

Chen Zhaoqiang was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Yes, it is said that one said that he will be a full-time supervisor of the war and will no longer be involved in the civil war; the other will return to Linquan and return to his hometown in Hejian to recuperate."

"That's right. I went to Tianjin to stay after I stepped down, waiting for a comeback. This time, it seems like I'm retiring. In a sense, it's an interesting improvement." Cheng Nuo's tone was mixed with sarcasm. .

Although Chen Zhaoqiang was also indifferent to the Beiyang government because of the series of incidents at the Jiangnan Shipbuilding Institute, he was still puzzled at this time: "But from what you said, it seems that there is more to blame! Why is that?"

Cheng Nuo snorted softly and said, "That Duan is not a good person. He said he was stepping down, but in fact, he borrowed 2000 million yen from the Imperial Korean Bank of Japan in the name of the country last month through Minister Zhang Zongxiang. It was used by him to prepare and train the participating army, and he ran away first at this time to fill his own pockets."

Hearing this, Chen Zhaoqiang's complexion also became unsightly. The fist in his hand loosened and loosened, squeezed and squeezed, and finally heaved a long sigh:

"Well, even the British ambassador to China, Zhu Erdian, knows that our Chinese government has borrowed foreign debts repeatedly. All the mortgages in the country have been exhausted. This money has been used for military expenses without any real effect. It is not for a long time. plan, but now they have found the Japanese..."

Just when Chen Zhaoqiang was about to sigh, two young men suddenly came from not far away, with inexplicable smiles on their faces: "I don't know what happened to us Japanese? If any Japanese compatriots offended you, I am here On behalf of my fellow countrymen, I apologize to the gentlemen,"

As he spoke, he even bowed in public.

Cheng Nuo took off his sunglasses and glanced at the two of them, then put them on again on his own, and said flatly, "If your country already enjoys bowing, I don't mind being here to help others, right? , Iwasaki Hidero and Mr. Iwasaki Hiroshi?"

Yes, these two were the Iwasaki brothers, but Cheng Nuo was a little surprised that he could still meet them here.

I can only use one sentence to describe it, that is, "it is a blessing, not a disaster, and it is a disaster that cannot be avoided".

But now that he's here, Cheng Nuo still wants to play on the words of the two brothers, to see if he can get some valuable information.

"I heard that your country's Uchida Gai has made some adjustments to the Hara Cabinet's policy toward China, and decided not to adopt a policy that only takes Japan's interests as the standard? I wonder if there is such a thing?"

Iwasaki Hidero didn't expect the topic to be this, and he didn't know how to answer without the slightest preparation.

It was the younger brother Hiroshi Iwasaki who cared more about politics, and replied directly: "That is only a tentative policy. What is really implemented is to temporarily stop borrowing from China, and even directly recover the money if it damages the unification of the North and the South..."

Speaking of this, Hiroshi Iwasaki deliberately paused, with a strong tone of provocation: "Professor Cheng, do you know what this means?"

Cheng Nuo narrowed his eyes slightly: "It means that you will be detrimental to our country according to the terms of the cabinet?"

"No, no, no, we, China and Japan are separated by a strip of water, how could we possibly do something that would add insult to injury? This is not in line with the style of our Great Japanese Empire." Hiroshi Iwasaki's expression was very exaggerated, and he said slowly: "In terms of strategy towards China , our empire acts in unison with other countries, and if necessary, our Eight Great Nations will unite their forces again..."

At this time, even though Chen Zhaoqiang was already old, he grabbed Hiroshi Iwasaki by the collar with outrageous anger: "The Japanese devils speak quickly and fart quickly. You should be thankful that there are more witnesses on the deck now, otherwise you will be killed in the next moment." You're going to feed the sharks!"

Iwasaki Hiroshi originally wanted to continue to be arrogant, but when he met Chen Zhaoqiang's eyes that were about to burst into flames, his body couldn't help shivering, and his Adam's apple surged: "No... don't forget, our empire's The warship is swimming nearby."

"You!" Chen Zhaoqiang immediately had the idea of ​​throwing Iwasaki Hiroshi off the deck.

It was Cheng Nuo who stood up, grabbed Chen Zhaoqiang's arm and said softly, "Just throwing him down like this is really cheap for him. General Chen spares his life for the time being. Let's find out what kind of medicine he sells in his gourd."

Hideo Iwasaki on the side also hurriedly tried to persuade him: "Sir, I'm sorry to bother you. On behalf of my younger brother, I'm sorry to say sorry to you. Please, be a gentleman and don't act with your words. Don't be as knowledgeable as my incompetent brother."

Chen Zhaoqiang looked at Cheng Nuo, then at Iwasaki Hideo, and finally grabbed Iwasaki Hiroshi and threw it directly on the ground, his eyes were stern: "You are lucky, I will spare you today, and you may not be so good next time." Luckily."

Chen Zhaoqiang was originally from the army, and he was tall and big. Just now, it didn't look like he was using much effort, but in fact he almost killed Hiroshi Iwasaki.

After being thrown on the ground, he blushed and breathed desperately, as if he was walking around the gate of hell.

Knowing that he was no match for Cheng and Chen for the time being, Hiroshi Iwasaki didn't dare to say harsh words anymore, and let his elder brother Hidero Iwasaki help him turn around and leave.

It's just that the moment he turned around, the venomous gaze still made Cheng Nuo feel uncomfortable, so he stopped him directly:
"Stop! It's not over yet!"

Once tightened and then loosened, and now it is tightened again.

Although Iwasaki Hiroshi was not as exaggerated as directly scared to pee, he was basically shaking like a sieve with fright. If his brother Iwasaki Hidero hadn't supported him, he would have been limp on the ground like mud at this time.

"Is there... is there anything else?"

Chen Zhaoqiang's eyes were full of disgust: "Just now you didn't say anything about what happened to us."

Iwasaki Hidero saw that his younger brother was really useless at this time, so he had no choice but to stand up and say: "Actually, there is nothing else. If you Qiuxin Machinery Factory wants to continue financing, you can go to a Japanese-funded bank, provided that you agree to Mitsubishi's capital injection..."

Before the other party could finish speaking, Cheng Nuo waved his hand and said, "Then you can rest assured that there is no hope in this life. Take your brother and get out, as far away as possible!"

After hearing this, the two of them didn't dare to express any unnecessary expressions on their faces, and hurriedly left.

Seeing this distressed appearance, Chen Zhaoqiang suddenly said with emotion: "That is, on our Chinese ship, the two of us dare to do this. If we change to another ship, we feel that each other's roles will have to be reversed."

Cheng Nuo had an indescribably complicated expression on his face: "So, this is why we develop the steel industry, shipbuilding industry, and even national industries."

"Based on my observation, I'm afraid those Japanese devils won't let it go, and they will definitely retaliate against us later. At that time, they will be in the dark and we will be in the light. It will not be so easy to deal with it." Chen Zhaoqiang thought for a while, and said: "It's hard to say whether it will put pressure on the Beiyang government."

Cheng Nuo shook his head, not very worried: "We still have to understand that the public is not monolithic, otherwise Duan Qirui would not be allowed to step down, and it would be Xu Shi's turn to sing. Since we can be invited, there must be someone who is willing to stand up." On our side, it is not realistic to directly ask for money support.

But if we shout two slogans for our platform, I think it is quite enough for the development of Qiuxin Machinery Factory and for those of us who are engaged in industry, such as reforming the mining management organization, investigating the national iron ore resources, etc. There is still a lot that can be done.”

At present, making money from steel belongs to making money, but it is essentially based on the scarcity of various combat readiness resources during World War I.

In fact, within half a year, or even a few months, the First World War will end, and the entire steel price will avalanche. If we do not prepare in advance, it is estimated that Qiuxin Machinery Factory may fall in this hurdle. It is inevitable.

(End of this chapter)