The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 527: Just a Symbolic Compensation of Million

"Well said!" Xi Ligong was so excited that he couldn't help but praise loudly.

"The Marshal's words are truly insightful and can sum up the true meaning of negotiation in one sentence. In my opinion, this statement will become the essence of negotiation for future generations."

Teng Yuzao's sudden words not only attracted praise from Xi Ligong, but also Ning Xingpu and others.

Teng Yuzao smiled and waved his hand, then continued to speak to Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang.

"However, you must tell Li Zhongtang that this matter cannot be discussed in front of all the foreigners. Ask him to find a way to talk to the British, American, and German envoys individually."

"These ministers tend to view and think about issues more from the perspective of their national interests, while the leaders of the coalition forces have a relatively narrow vision, and most of them are short-sighted."

"I can't control the compensation related to Zhili and Beijing. They need to negotiate with the court."

"But as far as Zhili is concerned, including the losses in Tianjin, I don't need to claim compensation from those foreign devils. They only need to pay a symbolic 10 million taels of silver each to Zhili as war reparations."

Teng Yuzhao's casual words stunned everyone present.

Ten million taels of silver was just a symbolic amount. Even Xi Ligong, who was in charge of hundreds of millions of taels of silver, felt ashamed of Teng Yuzhao's generous words.

Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang, who were originally full of hope for Teng Yuzao's suggestion, couldn't help but smile bitterly after hearing what Teng Yuzao said.

Xu Shichang said with a bitter face, "Marshal, the price of silver has risen now. This 10 million taels of silver is equivalent to 9 million US dollars. Although you think this 10 million taels of silver is a small amount, it is indeed not a small amount!"

Xu Shichang also said, "General, you may not know how much tax revenue the court collected in a year before the war?"

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Juren, you underestimate me too much. If I remember correctly, it was about 100 million taels."

Xu Shichang bowed to Teng Yuzao and said, "The Marshal is right. This is the tax from the year before last. After this war, the tax this year will probably be reduced a lot."

Yang Shixiang took over and continued, "General, even if the war ends soon, it will be difficult to get the court to come up with 10 million taels of silver next year, not to mention these seemingly powerful powers."

"This 10 million taels of silver is still a considerable sum for those foreign devils whose finances are currently stretched to the limit. Even if the United States, Britain, Germany, and even the French are wealthy, they don't care about this little money."

"But can Italy and Austria-Hungary afford it? As for the Russians and Japanese, that's even more unnecessary. I'm afraid that the issue of compensation will eventually become the biggest obstacle to a successful peace negotiation."

Teng Yuzao smiled and said, "Lianfu, Juren, don't be impatient, just listen to what I have to say."

Teng Yuzao thought for a moment and said, "The Lian family is right. In fact, if these countries want to come up with this much money, they definitely cannot afford it, and naturally they will never agree to it. However, this is exactly what I want to achieve."

Teng Yuzao's words made everyone look puzzled.

"You can tell Li Zhongtang clearly that he can communicate privately with the envoys of the United States, Britain, and Germany. As long as they agree to pay Zhili a symbolic compensation of 10 million silver coins, I will allow them to participate in Zhili's foreign construction investment, and also allow their domestic companies to cooperate with our merchants to build factories in Zhili." "You can even add a clause that I will only do business with those who pay compensation to Zhili."

It was only then that Teng Yuzhao's words cheered up Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang.

Teng Yuzao had said long ago that he would vigorously promote Westernization in Zhili, and that to promote Westernization he would even have to buy foreign machinery and equipment, including some things that could not be made in China, such as dyes, oils, and so on.

These are naturally a big piece of fat meat for foreigners, but if they do not deal with each other, the rejected powers will inevitably be strongly condemned by their domestic public opinion.

Such threats are indeed a killer weapon under the current circumstances.

"Also, I will not take back even a single ounce of silver from these indemnities. I will use all of it to purchase equipment and supplies from their own country."

After Teng Yuzao finished speaking, he saw that Yang Shixiang and Xu Shichang looked much more excited, but still somewhat confused, so Teng Yuzao continued.

"You can also ask Li Zhongtang to tell them that in the process of promoting Westernization in Zhili, I will build a large steel enterprise, a large arsenal, a shipyard, an automobile factory, a machinery factory, several chemical plants that can produce fertilizers and other chemical products, more than a dozen power plants and cement plants, expand the scale of Kaiping Coal Mine, and conduct large-scale mineral exploration, etc."

"I can tell the foreigners clearly that the factories and enterprises I'm talking about are not small-scale projects. They will all be large projects that can be compared with the scale of domestic enterprises in most countries in the world."

"Not only do we need to import machinery and equipment to build these factories, but we also need to build railways, which requires importing a large amount of rails. For the time being, the domestic steel supply may be insufficient."

"If there are railways, there must be locomotives. In my plan, there will also be locomotive factories. Zhili cannot always buy from abroad. If foreigners are unwilling to pay, they can invest in technology and share the profits in proportion. All other enterprises can do the same."

"I must especially emphasize that regarding weapons, as long as they are willing to sell them, I will give them a large sum of money."

"The most important point is that not only can all countries that paid war reparations to Zhili participate in Zhili's Westernization construction, but also countries that did not pay reparations to Zhili will not allow any of their goods to enter Zhili. I just said this, and I can add one more thing. I will not allow entry to the ports controlled by the Beiyang government, and even through Lulu, it will not be allowed either."

When Teng Yuzao mentioned this series of big projects, Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang and Huang Chujiu were already shocked and speechless with their mouths wide open. Even Zhou Xuexi, Ning Xingpu and even Xi Ligong could not help but smack their lips in amazement.

But Teng Yuzao immediately proposed a more costly plan, "I will also rebuild Tianjin City. The urban construction of Tianjin City will be modeled after the Western style."

"Li Zhongtang can tell all these to the foreigners, and he can even tell the British, German and American ministers. As for me, I prefer Krupp in Germany for arsenals and steel mills, and I am willing to cooperate with them."

"For shipbuilding, I would prefer to cooperate with the UK."

"As for car manufacturers, I admire Mercedes from Germany and Ford from the United States. Of course, if they are not willing, I can also consider looking for other countries."

"A car is worth nearly ten thousand taels of silver. I don't believe they won't be tempted."

What surprised Teng Yuzhao was that after he had been talking for so long and outlined to these people a grand blueprint for Zhili to vigorously promote Westernization, not only did not any of these people feel excited or encouraged, but they all looked worried.

Even Xi Ligong, who had a huge amount of money, was in the same situation, and his eyes were even more worried.
(End of this chapter)