"Please!" Marion came in with coffee ground by herself.
"Thank you." Zhang Leyi took the coffee, but her eyes always stayed on Zhou Hexuan. She wanted to know how Zhou Hexuan persuaded the French consul.
Herway turned sideways, tilted his head towards Zhou Hexuan, and asked with a somewhat asking tone: "Mr. Zhou, where does the money come from?"
"Issue public bonds." Zhou Hexuan said.
"Haha!" Herway laughed with sarcasm. He thought Zhou Hexuan would have some good ideas, but it turned out to be a bad idea. He immediately asked, "In whose name are we issuing public bonds? Who is willing to pay back the money?"
"Tianjin tariff," Zhou Hexuan explained, "it is most reasonable to pay for the dredging of Tianjin Port and Haihe River by tariff."
Herway smiled at Zhou Hexuan and said sarcastically: "Mr. Zhou, you don't have a cold or a fever, do you? Why can't I understand a sentence?"
China's tariffs are too complicated. The highest authority is the General Taxation Department of China Customs, headquartered in Shanghai. The current director is the Englishman Yi Wanshi. All tariffs were collected by foreigners, and then divided among countries according to specific circumstances.
If you want to use Tianjin's tariffs to issue public bonds to manage the waterway, you must obtain the approval of the Shanghai General Taxation Department and obtain the approval of various countries. The degree of difficulty here is far more difficult than persuading Chu Yupu to allocate funds. Who will eat the fat in his mouth?
Are you willing to spit it out?
Zhou Hexuan didn't say anything, but took out an American newspaper from his briefcase. This was an expired newspaper from the beginning of the year. The news contained was the dialogue declaration issued by US Secretary of State Kellogg on January 27: "Since the Washington Conference, the United States has
Be prepared, and are now preparing, to negotiate with any government in China or with any representative who can represent China or speak on behalf of China, not only to negotiate the implementation of the 25% surcharge that Washington has jumped on, but also to negotiate the complete abandonment of tariff control, that is, the restoration of China's complete
Tariff autonomy.”
Herway's expression changed slightly and he asked in a deep voice: "What exactly do you want to say?"
Zhou Hexuan put down the newspaper and said: "Let me analyze the situation first. Due to the rapid expansion of the national power of the United States, the United States actively pursues a foreign expansion strategy, but it has been restrained by Britain, France, Japan and other countries. At the Paris Peace Conference a few years ago, the United States and China
Likewise, the diplomatic negotiations failed completely and did not achieve the expected goals. Therefore, it shifted its expansion targets to the Far East and the Pacific, and regarded monopolizing China as an important goal. If the United States wants to expand its power in China, it must confront Britain and Japan. Washington Conference
In the final analysis, it is a new international conference for the United States to resist Japan's monopolization of China, dismantle the Anglo-Japanese alliance, and recover the losses caused by the Paris Peace Conference. Mr. Consul, am I right?"
As the French Consul General in Tianjin, Hervé was naturally very aware of the Washington meeting. He nodded and smiled and said: "You summed it up very well. It is more concise and to the point than the speeches of the French congressmen."
Zhou Hexuan continued: "In order to further expand its power in China, the United States is trying to support China in taking back some of the privileges of great powers in China in order to suppress the interests of Britain, Japan and other countries in China. Supporting the Chinese government to take back tariffs is a good opportunity. The US Secretary of State's
The Declaration on China is not just rhetoric. Substantial measures will definitely be taken next year at the latest. The southern government is eager to gain international recognition. As long as the United States extends an olive branch, they will be absolutely ecstatic. In this way, the United States will become the southern government.
The most friendly international partner, and the interests of Britain, France and Japan in China will definitely be damaged."
Hervé remained silent, but actually his heart was in a turmoil. He was shocked by Zhou Hexuan's keen international perspective. He, the French Consul General in Tianjin, only learned the news half a month ago that the domestic parliament was discussing the issue of withdrawing customs privileges for dialogue.
.
Zhou Hexuan, on the other hand, just read American newspapers and added some of his own analysis to completely understand the complex form.
He is indeed a scholar who can write "The Rise of Great Powers"!
Herway put aside his contempt and spoke to Zhou Hexuan as an equal. He said: "With all due respect, China's tariff independence is the general trend, but the biggest obstacle is Japan, and they will never agree."
Zhou Hexuan smiled and said: "If Britain, France and the United States all support China's tariff independence, Japan will have to agree even if it doesn't agree."
"That's true," Hervé said with a smile, "but that will all happen in the next few years. What does it have to do with the current dredging of Tianjin Port?"
With a treacherous look in Zhou Hexuan's eyes, he said: "My proposal is to use the Tianjin Customs tariff in three years to issue public bonds. Use the future Chinese government's money to help the current powers do good deeds. Not only will you not pay a penny,
Moreover, it can gain practical benefits and win the goodwill of the Chinese government and people."
"Hahahaha," Hervé laughed, "Mr. Zhou, I have to admit that your idea is very genius. But the question is, are you sure that China will be able to have its own tariffs in three years?"
"I am very sure," Zhou Hexuan said, "the Americans are already taking action. The British naturally cannot sit idly by and wait, and the French government will not stand idly by."
"I have reservations about this, but I will help contact the General Taxation Department of Customs in Shanghai," Herway said.
Zhou Hexuan continued his analysis: "In fact, it doesn't cost much to manage the waterway. It can be done with up to 1 million Chinese silver dollars. The great powers don't care about this money. From the perspective of the international situation, the current overall situation is the confrontation between capitalism and gcism. China
The north and the south are working together to clear up the Communist Party, and they are the vanguard of resisting gcism. In order to win over China, the great powers will inevitably give up their customs privileges. As far as I know, at the beginning of the year, when the Soviet Union was still supporting the southern government, the great powers spent a lot of money to support Zhang Zuolin.
The Japanese Manchuria Corporation invested 3 million yen, and British businessmen from Hong Kong and Shanghai invested 5 million pounds. The U.S. government sold Zhang Zuolin 100 aircraft and military supplies worth 10 million U.S. dollars. At this time, the Nanjing National Government changed
Countries such as Britain, the United States, France, and Japan are already actively negotiating and contacting each other regarding our position. It is no problem to use some customs money to issue public bonds."
Hervé was originally skeptical, but now he was completely convinced by Zhou Hexuan. He sighed: "Mr. Zhou, you really should become a diplomat."
Zhou Hexuan continued: "The sooner this happens, the better. Now that refugees are gathering in Tianjin, it is a good time to carry out big projects. Using refugees as cheap labor will save a lot of project expenses, and it can also help refugees tide over difficulties. In this way
You can save money, do good deeds, and win the favor of the Chinese people. It’s the best of all three! Even if the country’s stance is aside, charity should also be supported. I don’t think Mr. Consul wants to see people starving to death every day.
."
Herway shook hands with Zhou Hexuan and said: "Mr. Zhou, you have successfully persuaded me. I will inform the British and Japanese consuls and pass the situation on to the customs."
"Then I will take my leave first and wait for good news from Mr. Consul." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile.
After Zhou Hexuan left with Zhang Leyi, Herway said to his wife: "China is really a magical country, and there will always be some fascinating people."
The Chinese government allocated 100,000 taels of silver, and the British Ministry of Industry issued public bonds of 150,000 taels.