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Chapter 19 Business Opportunities

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    In Cai E's opinion, it was Zhang Zuolin who had this idea.  As we all know, before and after the Republic of China, although China armed a so-called new army and seemed to be in line with other countries, in fact, China's military industry lagged far behind that of the East and the West. So far, the country's industrial level has not been able to manufacture its own products.  Get out the gun.

    ??In the view of the traditional military elite, a thousand troops are easy to obtain, but a single gun is difficult to obtain.  Nowadays, many people are serving as soldiers just to put food on the table. It is indeed much easier to recruit soldiers than to acquire guns.  Zhang Zuolin wanted to raise the banner against Yuan Shikai with a division of troops. If he didn't light up the arms and make a fortune, he would really feel uneasy.  What Zhang Hanqing said about "doing business" with foreigners was probably a fig leaf for the arms deal.

    In this regard, Cai E really has a way.  Whether it is to reassure "allies" or to strengthen anti-Yuan forces, he will take over without hesitation.  However, when he asked Zhang Hanqing carefully: "Is the Yuting plan a gun or a cannon? How much ammunition?", Zhang Hanqing couldn't help laughing.

    "Uncle Shi, the business my nephew is talking about is real business! By buying arms, your strength may increase greatly in the short term, but this is by no means a long-term solution."

    Cai Ezuo suddenly realized: Is he buying a machine?  This is the right path to a strong military.  Zhang Zuolin should not teach him to fish but teach him to fish. This insight is beyond the reach of ordinary warlords. It is indeed not easy for him to dominate Fengtian for a long time.  But he was in trouble: "Han Qing, if it were two years ago, I could definitely take this line. But now the European War is in full swing, and Western countries are all working hard to build arms, and they want to buy and manufacture mother aircraft. In a short while,  I can¡¯t say I¡¯m sure yet.¡±

    Zhang Hanqing burst out laughing again, so much so that Cai E felt a little hairy: Could it be that he had made a mistake again?  Who did you, a stupid kid, learn to play Jifu from?  Can't you talk properly?  Just when he wanted to spank him impulsively, Zhang Hanqing finally behaved himself: "Uncle Shi really made a mistake. We are really doing business this time."

    "Europe is now in a stalemate stage of positional warfare, and the trend has not changed for a long time. My nephew is thinking that every day there are whistling artillery shells above his head and dense machine gun bullets in his ears. In the intensive defense on both sides  The only thing the soldiers on the front line can do is stay in the trenches and do nothing. What they want to do and what they need is our business."

    Our General Cai is completely dizzy.  As a first-class soldier, it is impossible for him not to pay attention to the war in Europe, but his and Zhang Hanqing's concerns are definitely different.  What he focused on was the strategic and tactical planning and grasp of fighter opportunities by both warring parties. Zhang Hanqing seemed to be most enthusiastic about the business opportunities.

    "Oh, let's take a look." General Cai's interest greatly increased.  For him who has been immersed in the military for half his life, he really can't figure out what items the Western powers, whose industrial and economic strength far exceeds China's, are lacking, which may be beneficial to his military research.

    "Tobacco," Zhang Hanqing blurted out: "The best things to kill boring time are beautiful women, tobacco and alcohol. War makes women go away, and they are not allowed to drink, but smoking can refresh and soothe the nerves, which cannot be denied by any coach. According to  I know from the newspapers that in August last year Belgium collected tobacco from various countries in the United Kingdom and the United States, and even established the 'Belgian Soldiers Tobacco Foundation'. Others include the British Expeditionary Force, the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps, the Canadian Expeditionary Force, etc. are all in need.

    We grow a lot of tobacco in the Northeast. My nephew is thinking that if there is a chance to contact the Allied Powers, we can supply them with a large amount of high-quality and low-priced tobacco. Firstly, it will effectively support their logistics on the battlefield and indirectly show that our country  Secondly, we can also obtain valuable profits from it. The most important thing is to export a large amount of tobacco to foreigners instead of poisoning the Chinese. No matter what, it is a very meaningful thing.  "

    This is Zhang Hanqing¡¯s first business experience after he came to Beijing and thought about it for a period of time. It is by no means made in response to the situation.

    Looking at the overall situation, it has been more than a year since the First World War started, and all the major powers have been involved in it one after another.  Where China should go has been debated endlessly in China's military and political circles.  Of course, knowledgeable people such as Duan Qirui and Cai E strongly supported China's joining the Allied Powers. The reason was that Britain, France and Russia were either major powers at sea or on land, or they had vast territories with war potential, and the Allies would definitely lose.

    But because the Japanese were concerned about the German occupation of Qingdao, they firmly opposed China's declaration of war on Germany - so that Japan, which had decided to join the Allied Powers, would not be able to attack its "ally" China.  Under the pressure of the Japanese government, Yuan Shikai was hesitant to make a decision, fatally watching the Japanese occupy Qingdao and losing the opportunity.

    Since then, Japan has continued to influence China's right to declare war until 1917. This also made China ridiculed by foreigners as "sitting back and enjoying the gains" for entering the war too late.  The humiliating scene at the Paris Peace Conference after the war was not only due to its weak national power, but also the Chinese government¡¯s response was too slow.  If China canTobacco was successfully "introduced" into the European battlefield. This thing, which is a military requirement along with ammunition, food, and medicine, can completely represent China's contribution to the Allies!

    You must know that life in the trenches became more and more boring as the war lasted. Especially after the Battle of the Marne, both sides fighting on the Western Front began to build trenches for long-term confrontation, thus turning into positional warfare.  Caught between countless artillery pieces and dense machine guns, any charge by either side was bound to suffer huge losses, so ordinary soldiers got a chance to breathe.  Smoking a cigarette gracefully while taking a break on the battlefield and then dying calmly in battle is an immortal theme in American blockbusters. It was this that led Zhang Hanqing to discover business opportunities.

    The "Belgian Soldiers Tobacco Foundation" has been calling on the American public, "The demand for tobacco by frontline soldiers is beyond our imagination. Tobacco is the comfort that soldiers in the trenches crave most" In their calculations, every person wearing a bag has  The package of tobacco was worth 25 cents and contained 50 cigarettes, a large pack of tobacco leaves, and a box of matches.

    How much is 25 cents worth?  This only makes sense in terms of price comparison.  Of course, because the silver dollar at this time was still very powerful, based on the ratio of one gram of gold, 5 U.S. dollars, and 9 silver dollars, it can be roughly concluded that the silver dollar is equivalent to 45 cents.

    What is the purchasing power of a silver dollar at this time?  According to relatively reliable research, it can be roughly converted to 30 kilograms of rice.  However, it is unfair to compare this number with today, because at that time, the harvest from one acre of land was only a hundred pounds.  In other words, the value of ten packs of these cigarettes in Europe is equivalent to the output of one acre of land in China, and the profits can be imagined.

    In the north, from Fengtian to Rehe, countless tobacco plants are grown.  In official history, these tobaccos were an important economic source for Zhang Zuolin to expand his army and seize territory. They were also a reflection of China becoming a major tobacco country.  Although they are aware of the dangers of tobacco, the Zhangs and their sons, whose power is still in its infancy, will never ban tobacco cultivation for the so-called long-term national destiny. On the contrary, in Zhang Hanqing's plan, the tobacco industry is an important part of improving the Zhang family's wealth.

    Before the Republic of China, most Chinese people smoked dry cigarettes, water pipes, etc. After the Republic of China, cigarettes developed rapidly, and many famous brands appeared: the domestic time-honored "Laodao" brand, the British and American company's rookie "Sanbaotai" brand in 1914, and the Harbin brand founded in 1919.  Demen brand, Fairy brand aimed at the female market, Daqianmen brand of a century-old store The brand promotion of cigarettes at this time was no less than that of later generations. For example, the advertisement of the "Three Fortresses" brand is "Three Fortresses, today's famous cigarette; Liu Guanzhang, in ancient times  The advertisement of Daqianmen is "Big people attract 'Daqianmen', they are generous".

    How can Europe and the United States stand out from the competition with the heritage of the world's major tobacco countries?  Zhang Hanqing is confident that China's tobacco industry will move into a new world.  Even if there is no creativity in marketing in Europe, reorganizing the tobacco industry is also Zhang Hanqing's first step to revitalize Fengtian's economy.  As for the feeling of guilt, I'm sorry, but if Zhang Hanqing doesn't do it, these brands will still be established. Besides, Zhang Xueliang has even smoked cigarettes in his history, so cigarettes are nothing.

    Purchasing tobacco is not a problem, nor is it difficult to build a tobacco factory, as long as you can sell it at a good price.  By the way, a match factory can also be built. After all, it is a product for people's livelihood, and the market for domestic sales is large enough.  At this time, like heavy industry, China's light industry was also extremely backward. Daily products such as matches, kerosene, and washbasins were basically monopolized by foreigners, known as "matches, foreign oils, and foreign basins" The road to revitalizing China is arduous.  It¡¯s a long way to go.

    Of course, Zhang Hanqing hopes to have the opportunity to divert the trouble westward and sell it at a high price.  Therefore, if there is any chance to sell Northeastern tobacco with the help of Cai E's connections, Zhang Hanqing will certainly try it.

    "We can try this. My teacher Liang Qichao has some contacts with British and American officials in China, and he may be able to build a bridge. In addition, Fang Zhen may have some ideas. After all, he studied in Germany. If the Allies cannot reach an agreement, it will be the same with the Allies.  , the German army needs it anyway." Cai E was a soldier after all, so he was decisive.

    General Cai¡¯s connections are indeed not limited. He soon contacted the ministers of France, Belgium and other countries in China through connections, allowing them to first enjoy the high-quality and low-priced tobacco from northern China.  Zhang Hanqing even arranged negotiators through Zhang Zuolin, promising to supply coalition cigarettes, cut tobacco, pipes and pipes at more favorable prices.

    During the three-month tug-of-war negotiations, Zhang Zuolin, who also had a keen business acumen, grabbed the cash cow handed over by Zhang Hanqing and used private capital to build a cigarette factory in Fengtian, which later became the largest cigarette factory in Northeast China and even China - Fengtian Cigarette Factory.  , launched several brands one after another: "Zhonghua" for high-end people, "Great Wall" for the mass market, and "Shengli" for export to Europe.

    During the three years from the end of 1915 to the end of the war in 1918, the Fengtian Cigarette Factory shipped a total of 30 million cigarettes, 2 million packs of cut tobacco, and as many as 40,000 pipes and tobacco pouches to Europe, making profits of up to one million  A lot of silver dollars.  Domestically, more than 10 million packs of cut tobacco and 10 million cigarettes flow into every corner of the country through various channels.  The reason why the sales volume of cigarettes in foreign countries far exceeds that in China is because Chinese people are too poor to afford high-end products containing paper. However, the sales volume of shredded tobacco still shows that China's tobacco industry has great potential for development.

    Of course, in the end, due to the embargo, the German soldiers did not enjoy the gifts from China, which is a pity.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com)This situation is really because Chinese people are too poor to afford high-end products containing paper, but the sales volume of shredded tobacco still shows that China's tobacco industry has great potential for development.

    Of course, in the end, due to the embargo, the German soldiers did not enjoy the gifts from China, which is a pity.  (Remember the website address: www.hlnovel.com
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