The Qing Dynasty

Chapter 542 This is Waste Paper

Teng Yuzao waved the outline of the peace talks in his hand and continued, "Regarding the clause that permanently prohibits the military and civilians from joining groups that are hostile to other countries, based on the principle of reciprocity I just mentioned, the powerful countries should also establish corresponding laws in their countries to prohibit anyone from being hostile to our country and discriminating against our officials and civilians."

"Regarding Article 11, I fully agree with this one. I think it is the only one that does not need any amendment. This is the only good thing that the traitor Yikuang has done for the Qing Dynasty."

When everyone was puzzled, Teng Yuzao continued, "It is necessary to amend the treaties on trade and navigation. The merchant ships of the great powers can freely sail on our inland rivers, the Pearl River and the Yangtze River. This is completely unimaginable in any of the great powers."

"How can such a situation continue? Even the great powers of Britain, the United States, France, Germany and Japan have brazenly sailed their warships into our inland rivers. What's worse, they have even penetrated deep into our hinterland, the rivers of Hankou and Wuchang. This is absolutely not allowed and must be changed."

Teng Yuzao held up the copy of the peace outline in his hand. "Since this peace outline is a complete loss of sovereignty and humiliation to the country, it will never be recognized by the court. It is the product of the secret collusion between the traitor Yikuang and the powers. In my eyes, it is just a piece of waste paper. I will not accept any clause except Article 11."

As Teng Yuzao spoke, he tore the copy in his hand into pieces with both hands and threw them into the air, letting the pieces of paper fly all over the sky with the wind.

"Moreover, even that eleventh article must be noted, which is to modify all navigation treaties imposed on us by the great powers."

As for Article 11 mentioned by Teng Yuzao, it was obviously a distortion of the wording of the Outline Agreement for Peace Negotiations. His speech and the tearing up of the so-called Outline for Peace Negotiations in public were immediately greeted with thunderous applause from Chinese journalists.

Even Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang, Wei Jinghai, Liu Yuzhi, Wu Peifu and other senior generals of the vanguard army who gathered around Teng Yuzao could not help but cheer loudly.

Teng Yuzao took a deep breath and spoke in a slowed-down tone.

"As for the reform of the Zongli Yamen and the etiquette of foreign ministers, although I agree with the content of this clause, I don't think it should be included in the peace treaty because it is still our internal affairs. The great powers can only make suggestions. Whether to implement the reform is the court's business. I will not comment on it here."

As soon as Teng Yuzao finished speaking, Xu Shichang took the lead in applauding enthusiastically, and then all the domestic reporters at the steps also began to clap their hands excitedly.

Teng Yuzao waved his hand, signaling the reporters below to be quiet.

However, except for a few foreign reporters, the Chinese reporters who were extremely excited could not stop. After a long time, the excitement caused by Teng Yuzao's passion gradually calmed down, and the applause finally stopped when Teng Yuzao pressed his hands down again.

Teng Yuzao smiled at Morrison, who looked a little gloomy, and said, "Mr. Morrison, I want to thank you again!"

Morrison, who was still pondering the message contained in Teng Yuzao's speech, was a little confused by Teng Yuzao's abrupt words. Just when he was at a loss as to what to do, Teng Yuzao had already spoken.

"Mr. Morrison, because you disclosed in The Times in a timely manner the Russians' attempt to unreasonably occupy the three northeastern provinces, not only did you begin to realize that this war would not end so easily, but you Western powers should also be on guard."

"I think that the Western powers, including your British Empire, should have fully realized the strong ambitions of the Russians."

Teng Yuzao took a deep breath and said, "I'm not exaggerating. We are not the only ones under serious threat."

"Once the Russians occupy our three northeastern provinces, their desire to seize territory will become even stronger. After they gain a foothold in the northeast, they will never stop their expansion. Korea, which is now occupied by the Japanese, and even our land inland will become their next target."

"At that time, they will have the Siberian Railway as their support. The influence of the European and American powers in the Western Pacific will no longer be able to stop the Russians' ambition to dominate the Far East, or even the entire Western Pacific. Not only will the Qing Dynasty be trapped in a long-term war, but the Japanese will also be driven back to their islands. Southeast Asia and the Philippines will also become their targets."

"It is even possible that if the Russians use the right strategy, they could take the Indian subcontinent."

Morrison nodded solemnly and said, "Dear General Teng, you are right. As far as I know, the report I disclosed has attracted great attention from our British Empire and the German Empire. The document that the Russians induced General Zeng Qi of Shengjing of your country to sign obviously undermined your country's independence and sovereignty, which is absolutely unacceptable to all Western powers.

"After urgent consultations, Britain and Germany have reached an agreement in principle. The agreement states that, first, no country should divide up your territory; second, your coasts and shores should be open to trade and economic activities of all countries, and no country should monopolize it."

"At present, the French, Japanese and American individuals have accepted and recognized the cognition of Britain and Germany. I believe that they have the strength and will definitely stop the Russians' attempt to dominate your country's northeast."

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "I will lead a million vanguard troops to fight any invaders to the end, and will never tolerate the loss of an inch of land. If we can get help from the knowledgeable countries in the world, we will be more confident that we can drive any invaders out of our land in a short time."

"Personally, I am very willing to maintain an open attitude with all countries in the world that are friendly to us and have friendly exchanges with each other, especially trade exchanges and scientific and educational exchanges. I hope that the foreign journalists present here will convey my speech to the leaders of your countries."

Teng Yuzhao's words immediately attracted the attention of several foreign reporters.

Louise, a reporter from the New York Times, asked the first question.

"Dear General, I would like to ask you a question. I saw your plan for the future development of Zhili published in the newspaper. This has aroused heated discussions among bankers and big business owners in the United States of America."

"They are all very interested in the general's grand vision. They are very willing to invest in Zhili, which is controlled by the general. Their only concern is whether the general really has so much money to invest."

"Also, with such a huge investment, how can you guarantee that their investment will get a safe and guaranteed return?"

"Because the General does not have a sufficiently secure mortgage after all." After asking her question, Louise hurriedly added, "Respected General, I hope my words have not offended your dignity."

The last time he talked with Yang Shixiang, Xu Shichang, Zhou Xuexi, Xi Liguo and others, he asked Yang Shixiang, Zhou Xuexi, Xi Liguo and others to write an "Outline of the Ten-Year Development Plan of Zhili" overnight. After Teng Yuzhao personally deleted and added some content, it was published in major newspapers.

Of course, some key contents cannot be published publicly, such as fundraising plans and ideas for salt factories and chemical plants. These cannot be discussed.

Despite this, Teng Yuzao's grand plan, with a total value of far more than 10 billion taels of silver, immediately caused a strong response at home and abroad.

Some people had doubts about Teng Yuzao's grand plan, but there were also many who praised it highly. Some even compared Zhili's promotion of Westernization with Japan's Meiji Restoration, believing that with Zhili's rich resources and Teng Yuzao's strong leadership, it would not be impossible to accomplish in ten years what took the Japanese decades to accomplish.

The foreigners were the ones who had doubts about Teng Yuzao's grand and frightening plan. Although the huge investment and construction was extremely tempting to them, they were also very worried that Teng Yuzao would not be able to guarantee the safety of their invested funds in the end.

Louise's problem is exactly what foreign investors are most concerned about.

The people most interested in this grand project are Americans, not only because they have plenty of cash and are eager to find a safe investment target, but also because the economic interests of the rich areas of the Yangtze River Basin and the Pearl River Basin in China have long been divided up by the British and French, and even the Japanese who have only begun to rise this year, making it difficult for Americans to get a piece of the pie.

Therefore, American businessmen, who have a strong adventurous spirit like cowboys, are eager to find new areas of economic interest in the Qing Dynasty, which has a large population, so as to fully unleash their investments and obtain huge economic benefits.

For this reason, whether American businessmen's huge investments are safe has become the most heated topic of discussion among them in recent times.

Louise's words were exactly what the American businessmen wanted to know, which made Teng Yuzao laugh.

"Ms. Louise, I think your worries are completely unnecessary. I am a very strong person. Believe me, the fact that I led the vanguard army without fear in the face of the strongest coalition forces in the world is enough to prove everything."

"In order to dispel the concerns of your country's bankers and big entrepreneurs, I can also use the tariffs of Tianjin Customs as collateral."

Louise smiled bitterly and said, "General, please forgive me for my offense, but the tariffs of Tianjin Customs will hardly satisfy our American bankers and big business owners, because compared to the huge investment they are about to make, the tariffs of Tianjin Customs are obviously much smaller, which is not fair to them. Also, why don't you use the salt tax of Changlu Salt Field as collateral as well?"

Teng Yuzao waved his hand and said confidently, "With the great development of the Westernization Movement in Zhili and the extremely favorable investment treatment in Zhili, a large number of domestic and foreign investors will be attracted to invest and set up factories in Zhili in a short period of time."

"At that time, not only will the import of equipment and materials increase dramatically, but exports will also grow rapidly."

"I'm sure you all know about the Shanghai-based Aurora Industrial Development Company."

Lucas smiled slyly and said, "Dear General, the relationship between the Aurora Industrial Development Company and you is no longer a secret. We also know that the Aurora Bank and the Aurora People's Livelihood Development Company are also your businesses."

"It is said that General Seymour, who was recently promoted to marshal, once asked your country's Liangjiang Governor Liu Kunyi to seal it, but was rejected by Liu Kunyi."

Teng Yuzao knew that Seymour had asked Liu Kunyi to seal up the Aurora Industrial Development Company, the Aurora Bank and the People's Livelihood Development Company. To be on the safe side, Teng Yuzao sent a telegram to Zhang Zhidong, asking him to mediate.

Teng Yuzao nodded and said, "I can tell you that the Aurora Industrial Development Company will soon move to Zhili. In Zhili, the Aurora Industrial Development Company will not only significantly expand production, but will also open a factory to produce new products."

"As far as I know, the products produced by the new company that Aurora Industrial Development Company is going to open will be extremely attractive to all Western powers and will be a very profitable enterprise."

"According to preliminary estimates, the annual sales of his company alone would be tens of millions of taels of silver. What do you think the import and export volume would be if the many new companies in Zhili were added?"

"So, the revenue from Tianjin Customs alone is definitely not a small amount. Using it as collateral is actually enough."

"As for Miss Louise's question just now, why didn't I consider adding the salt tax from the Changlu Salt Field as collateral? I can tell you."

"Because I plan to invest the Changlu Salt Field in the new enterprise of the Aurora Industrial Development Company in the form of shares, to benefit the people of Zhili and even the surrounding provinces, so the salt tax of Changlu cannot be used as collateral."

"In addition, the railways we are about to build are thousands of kilometers long and require a large number of rails, which need to be imported. If the companies investing in Zhili have steel mills in their own country, we will import a large number of rails from them. Of course, this requires bidding and the price must be right."

"After the railways are built, there will also be income. If necessary, the income from the railways can also be used as collateral. But I want to make one thing clear in advance: I will not sell the ownership of the railways."

"Well, I won't say much about Zhili's investment promotion. In a word, we are willing to accept investment from all friendly countries and do business with them on the basis of fair trade. But we firmly reject unfriendly countries that are our enemies. Zhili will not allow merchants from these countries to exist."

Morrison suddenly asked, "General Teng, you just said that as long as the peace talks are not over, it means that the war is not over. Can I understand that you still want to go to war?"

"Also, are those generals who just left rushing back to prepare for an attack on Tianjin?"

(End of this chapter)