Song Biao's itinerary in Dalian is very closely arranged, and many of the arrangements were booked a month ago.

The next morning, Song Biao left the "Governor's Office" of the Ministry of Military Affairs of Sheyenisky, visited the headquarters of the Far East Commercial Bank, and met with some new and important employees. At this time, the Far East Commercial Bank accumulated more than 3.2 million pounds of foreign exchange by selling 140,000 tons of Northeast soybeans in the international market for the first time. In addition, the transportation of grain from Huguang and Zhili to the Northeast, and the delivery of fur and coal mines from the Northeast, and the business scale was getting bigger and bigger, and more employees were employed...

Under the banner of foreign companies, more than half of the foreign staff recruited here, and the main management was mainly Russians and Chinese hired by Rong Xingqiao. Yang Changling, the general office of Shanghai-Nanjing Railway, was invited to the business bank to serve as the Chinese team of Far East Railway Company, and Morrogan, an engineer of the Chicago Railway Company of the Vanderbilt Railway Kingdom, served as the railway affairs consultant.

From this we can see that Song Biao did not have a sudden idea of ​​the construction of the Northeast Railway. Before he became the governor of the three eastern provinces, he consciously planned the franchise of the Northeast Railway.

Instead of implementing public office in the name of the governments of the three eastern provinces, it is actually better to handle it in Song Biao's own name, because his name is much more valuable than the Qing government and the Governor's Office of the three eastern provinces, and it is also a guarantee of credibility.

In the past period, Song Biao and Rong Xingqiao mainly invited early American children to join the Far East Business Bank. As one of the earliest people in China to systematically learn Western knowledge, their experience, ability and age are at the peak of their lives at this time. Once they miss this stage, they will eventually miss the great development pace of the entire era.

Mechanical engineers Zheng Tingxiang, Rong Yaoyuan, mining engineers Kuang Jingyang, Kuang Xianqiu, Liang Pushi of Guangdong Railway Bureau, brother Liang Puzhao, teachers of Nanyang Public School Rong Shangqin, Cheng Daqi, Zheng Guiting who does business in Japan, Luo Guorui of Shanghai-Nanjing Railway Bureau, Cao Maoxiang who runs Western medicine clinics in Shanghai. Pan Sichi, who works in Shanghai official textile factory, Wu Yangzeng, who works in Kaiping Mining Bureau, and Li Enfu, who works in the Chicago Post. Zhang Kangren, who works in the first Chinese lawyer in the United States, Zeng Dugong, editor-in-chief of "Zi Linxi Daily", Chen Ronggui, and Kuang Rongguang, who works in the Far East Commercial Bank during this period.

Shen Deyao came earlier among these people. Some time ago, he went to Anshan Iron Mine with Wu Yangzeng and Kuang Jingyang to conduct on-site investigations.

Song Biao met with everyone at the headquarters building of Far East Commercial Bank. At this time, Far East Commercial Bank was similar to the East India Company, with extremely special business privileges and business scope in the three northeastern provinces. According to Song Biao's idea, Far East Commercial Bank will open Far East Bank, Far East Coal and Iron Company, Far East Railway Company, Far East Real Estate Company, Far East Textile Factory, Far East Printing and Book Company, Far East Pharmaceutical Company, Far East Machinery Company, Far East Steam Company, Far East Telephone Company, and also invest in the establishment of Far East Commercial School and Northeast Technical Industrial School.

If these companies can be opened smoothly, they will play a very critical role in the development of the entire three northeastern provinces.

After meeting these people and asking them to attend lunch at the Kanto Hotel, Song Biao took time to have a separate talk with Shen Deyao, Wu Yangzeng and Kuang Jingyang. During this period, Song Biao still planned to stay in the Kanto Hotel and invited all three of them to his room.

At this time, all three of them were over 40 years old and in their thirties.

After asking them to sit down, Song Biao picked up the Anshan mining exploration and factory construction report written by Shen Deyao and Wu Yangzeng, and read it roughly. They had been inspecting the Anshan area for half a month. Based on the surveys of the Japanese and Russians, a series of verification work was carried out to confirm that there was indeed a very rich iron ore reserve. Some of the known iron ore fields had good mining conditions and the ore grade was relatively high.

Because Song Biao had previously expected to build an iron smelting plant with an annual output of more than 100,000 tons of steel production capacity, Shen Deyao's estimated total investment is expected to be 2.5 million US dollars, which does not include investments such as purchasing mines and plant sites. According to the current relatively common medium-sized blast furnace with a daily output of 60 tons, about five blast furnaces are required.

The development of technology is so strange. When Japan first founded the predecessor of the new Nippon Iron Institute, Kawaishi Iron Manufacturing Institute, the blast furnace purchased by Japan was a very advanced large blast furnace at that time, with a daily output of only 30 tons. It was still a relatively complex technology in the world at that time. That was only in 1870. As a result, the Japanese fell a very heavy lesson on this Kawaishi Iron Manufacturing Institute, because Japan could only use charcoal to make steel. The worst thing was that the iron ore surrounding the Kawaishi Iron Manufacturing Institute had only 30,000 tons of iron ore reserves. What was worse than this was that Japan could almost only use native methods to operate this high-priced German steel blast furnace.

Japan's ironmaking journey was also very unsuccessful. Until the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, their steelmaking journey was not on track. The price of the steel they refined was twice as high as that of imported steel, and the quality was very bad, but at least it finally exceeded the steel production capacity of 10,000 tons.

This is Japan.

Sometimes I really don’t admire it.

Technology is always improving, especially in this special early 20th century. Now, blast furnaces with a daily output of 60 tons can only be considered medium-sized and are not technically advanced. The advantages are that they are mature in technology, more stable efficiency and not very complex technical difficulty.

The reason why Shen Deyao recommends the use of medium-sized blast furnaces is that the iron plant he previously opened in the United States also uses medium-sized blast furnaces. He is relatively familiar with it and has suitable suppliers.

Song Biao looked through the report and then looked up at Shen Deyao again.

This is a middle-aged businessman of forty-four years old, wearing a black suit and wool coat, with a greasy hairstyle like those familiar to Song Biao, and she is very thin and has a weather-beaten feeling. Her hands and cheeks look extremely rough. She doesn't look like a wealthy businessman, but a coolie in the factory. She just borrows a piece of clothing worth a little money from others.

Song Biao and Shen Deyao asked: "If you invest $2.5 million, are you sure this iron plant will be opened smoothly?"

Shen Deyao thought for a while and replied: "It's hard to say, it's hard to say in the United States, and it's even harder to say in China."

Song Biao asked him, "Why?"

Shen Deyao said: "In the United States, because the competition is very fierce. If a newly opened iron plant does not have a good reputation, quality and suitable distributors, then there is no way to survive. In China, I think there is almost nothing except iron ore and coking coal suitable for coking. We cannot even find the market and buyers, and there are no suitable technicians. The worst thing is that all workers need to be trained from the basics. If they must set up factories in China instead of selling coal and iron ore directly, they either lower the production requirements. Starting from the basics, they must provide more funds and gradually lay a solid foundation in three to five years."

Song Biao replied: "My idea is very simple. I will operate this iron plant as a subsidiary of Far East Coal and Iron Company, and use the profits of the coal and iron specialty to gradually cultivate this iron smelting plant. At the same time, it provides funds to open professional metallurgy schools to cultivate professional talents, achieve profits within five years, become the best and largest steel plant in Asia within ten years, and become the world's first-class super-large steel plant in the world in twenty years. In the market field, we will first give up the railway and railway track markets in the three northeastern provinces and other places, and even if it is a loss-making operation, we will occupy this market. At the same time, we will open up machinery, shipbuilding and other industries to foreign capital to cultivate a larger market."

Shen Deyao said: "If you want to become one of the highest-sized steel mills in the world, you must first have such a market foundation in China. In addition, if you can occupy the railway track market, you can make a profit within three years, and it is not a problem to become the highest-sized steel mill in Asia within ten years. The key is that if you want to meet the railway track market in the Far East, we must invest huge amounts of money at the beginning, which has serious constraints on us in terms of talents, ores, workers, etc.."

Song Biao said: "My plan is to allow imports of some rails from the United States at the beginning to meet the construction period, but the US supplier must provide technical support to our steel plant."

Shen Deyao praised: "This is a very good plan. I can return to the United States in the near future to negotiate cooperation in this area. If we can increase our salary partly, we can also directly hire more skilled technicians and engineers from the United States to gradually complete the teaching and training of new workers within three to five years."

Song Biao immediately replied: "There is no problem with these. I have very high expectations for this iron plant, but the requirements for profit are very relaxed. As long as the entire coal and iron company can ensure capital balance and there is no need for the head office to provide additional financial support, there will be no problem."

Hearing these words, Shen Deyao, Wu Yangzeng and Kuang Jingyang looked at each other and smiled, and were all very relieved.

Song Biao's factory runs is different from other merchants and governors. He has the two characteristics of a governor and a capitalist. He has both policy support and monopoly clauses, as well as the capitalist's market economy principles and capital operation capabilities. This destined that he would be much easier than others to run a factory.

After the expected plan for Far East Steel Company was agreed, Song Biao talked with Shen Deyao about salary, shares and other issues, including some technical issues. Shen Deyao wanted to invest, but his total capital in the iron ore field in the United States was not high, and his personal assets totaled about 300,000 US dollars.

In the United States, this may be considered a very good Chinese businessman, but in the three northeastern provinces, it is too far behind Song Biao, and the total capital of Far East Coal and Iron Company is definitely far exceeding this level.

Fortunately, neither side actually had to choose. If Song Biao wanted to run a modern steel mill, Shen Deyao was certainly not the best candidate, but he was the only candidate. Apart from him, there was no one among the Chinese who had a systematic understanding of this. Moreover, he had a very failed experience and almost lost all his property.

Speaking of this, Song Biao was also curious and asked Shen Deyao: "I heard that you have set up an iron smelting plant in the United States, why did you fail? Because the United States is anti-China?"

Shen Deyao thought for a while and said, "That's not the problem. The basis of the anti-China in the United States is the exclusion of non-Christians. I am a Christian and have a higher education degree from Columbia University, and also have a certain wealth foundation. It is not within the scope of anti-China. In addition, I am just one of the partners of this iron smelting plant, not the main investor. Of course, even if I serve as a main investor, it is difficult to change the loss situation. The real reason is that the US economy is developing very fast, but the production capacity of large steel plants is faster. Prices have long formed a monopoly, and we are even difficult to find suitable dealers. This is indeed a very bad entrepreneurial experience, but in the United States, there are at least a few thousand new iron smelting plants built and closed every year, and we are just one of them."

Song Biao thought about it and said with some emotion: "I haven't seized the best opportunity. Now there is a good opportunity in China. If you seize it, it will be a very successful entrepreneurial experience. I think so. Your capital scale in the United States is relatively small. You can't occupy too many shares even after merger. It just so happens that I will share the Far East Coal and Iron Company in the near future. Let's give you five years of operation time. If you can guarantee the profit target of the Far East Coal and Iron Company, as well as its construction scale and development speed.

Especially the level of the iron plant, if we can satisfy us in all aspects, you will receive about 3% of the original shares at one time and have always served as the general manager of the coal and iron company and the steel plant. In the subsequent expansion and listing process, you have priority options. I suggest you accept this condition because I believe that the Far East Coal and Iron Company will develop very well in the future, considering its special status in the three northeastern provinces. And the huge scale it may develop, including its current foundation, 3% is already a very good stake."

Shen Deyao was of course very clear about what Song Biao said, and immediately agreed. He said: "No problem. The 3% stake in Far East Coal and Iron Company is indeed a huge foundation. Judging from the results of my inspection in Anshan, Benxi and Fushun, the 3% basic shares will also be a very good return."

Song Biao stretched out his hand and shook hands with Shen Deyao, saying, "Then let's make up that."

After the contract with Shen Deyao and Wu Yang had finalized for details, Song Biao handed over the overall operating rights of Far East Coal and Iron Company to them. Wu Yang was the company's general office. Shen Deyao served as the deputy general office and the general office of the steel company. Both of them had 3% of the original share allocation rights.

One plan of Song Biao was to split the original shares of Far East Coal and Iron Company into 10,000 shares. He held 1,000 shares in his personal name, Far East Commercial Bank held 2,000 shares, and retained 2,000 shares as a long-term distribution plan. The remaining 5,000 shares were distributed within the Northeast New Army at one time.

Referring to the generosity of the army, Song Biao was stingy to Shen Deyao and Wu Yang, even if the two of them were doing well, they only got 600 original shares, but these are two things, because the Far East Coal and Iron Company should essentially belong to all colleagues of the Northeast New Army. This is the benefit that everyone can only earn when fighting together. The money used to purchase the franchise at the time also came from the military expenses allocated by the Russian Far East Army.

Using a collective joint-stock company to consolidate the middle and high-level generals of the entire army is also an innovation by Song Biao on the road to warlords. He hopes to avoid division of the troops in this way, avoid psychological imbalances of the generals through generous and legal returns, and so as to take advantage of various opportunities to embezzle and deduct local administrative resources, resulting in the emergence of multiple small warlords.

Of course, this is just a plan. It is not reasonable for coal and iron companies to use share allocations, because the company basically lacks appropriate profits and dividends in the next five or even ten years, and it constantly requires large-scale capital investment, and the equity ratio will always be adjusted again.

Song Biao is not sure how to design the issue of shareholding.

In addition to the senior staff hired by Far East Trading Bank, Song Biao also contacted some privately hired consultants through Rong Xingqiao and others, the most important of which were Zhang Kangren and Li Enfu.

Zhang Kangren was one of the few young children studying in the United States who had not returned to China. After graduating from Yale University, he continued to study at Columbia Law School. In 1889, he obtained a lawyer license from New York State. Because California did not recognize his naturalization passport, he could not work as a lawyer in San Francisco and was forced to work at the San Francisco branch of Yokohama Bank in Japan. Because he was proficient in accounting, worked in the banking industry for many years, and had a deep foundation in law, Song Biao almost couldn't wait to invite him to serve as a private consultant and serve as his private representative to engage in some special jobs.

Li Enfu returned to Yale University to complete his studies through some efforts. He has been staying in the United States since then. He has published a novel called "My Childhood Story in China". He is well-known in the United States. He is known for his proficiency in Latin and persistent in criticizing the Chinese Exclusion Act. He has been a columnist and journalist in the American newspaper for a long time. Because he insists on participating in the Chinese organization movement, he hopes to prevent US legislation by organizing the Chinese movement, which eventually led to the breakdown of his marriage and his two daughters lost custody.

Because he is proficient in English and French and can deal with foreign media, Song Biao hired him as an accompanying translator and news consultant, and arranged to work in the secretariat.

Considering the special importance of these two people, after meeting with Wu Yangzeng and the other three, Song Biao continued to meet with Zhang Kangren and Li Enfu, among the young children studying in the United States. Zhang Kangren was considered relatively old, which may be the reason why he dared to stay in the United States for study in violation of the Qing government's orders. Even so, Zhang Kangren was only forty-five years old at this time.

After meeting these two people, Song Biao subconsciously glanced at them a few more times, and it felt very good. However, Li Enfu seemed to have an indescribable gloom, which probably was related to his life experience.

In this era, whether in the United States or in China, divorce and the loss of custody of their daughters are a shadow of life that is difficult to get out of.

As soon as the two sat down, Zhang Kangren and Li Enfu gave Song Biao a beautifully packaged gift. This surprised Song Biao a little. When he opened the gift, he found that it was the American media's various reports on "Bai O. Vladimir. Song", especially the report from the New York Times was the longest and comprehensive. It also used the Russian army's "sec"

The word etagent is the famous "spy".

Song Biao looked at it and except for words related to military and daily life, he could not roughly guess the meaning of the whole text, so he simply gave the clipping to Li Enfu. He said: "My English level is comparable to my political level, which is extremely poor. You should interpret it for me."

"OK!"

Li Enfu did not refuse. He translated from the first sentence at the beginning: "Everyone is paying attention to the war that took place in Northeast Asia. There is a dramatic turning point. An unprecedented special war broke out in Liaoyang. The strength of the six Japanese divisions not only failed to capture the three Russian divisions, but also suffered heavy losses. According to the US military officer watching the battle on the battlefield, about 150,000 elite troops on both sides were concentrated here, and the Japanese army was once twice that of the Russian army. It is worth paying attention to.

The title is the Russian army's highest commander, the front line, Beau Vladimir. Song Infantry Colonel is actually a Chinese, which is a problem that we can hardly imagine. According to reports from Russian media, this infantry colonel had previously graduated from the best non-commissioned officer school in Russia and studied at the Russian General Staff Academy as a senior spy. Before the Russo-Japanese War, he served in Lushun and was only an infantry lieutenant. He was promoted to major because he organized a regiment-sized Chinese armed forces in Manchuria...!"

This report was written directly in the late stage of the Liaoyang Battle. Judging from the date, Song Biao had already resolved General Notsu Kandao at that time.

After translating it, Li Enfu said to Song Biao: "The performance of the Governor during the Russo-Japanese War has boosted all Chinese people. China needs an excellent general like you. Of course, the Chinese people still have a lot of confusion about your help in Russia, not helping Japan."

Song Biao thought for a while and said, "You will understand that the Russians are much easier to deal with than the Japanese. In fact, we can all see this clearly in the war. If I had a troops of 100,000 people, I would be able to deal with the Russians easily, but for the Japanese, I was also sighing across the strait."

Li Enfu hesitated for a moment and praised: "His Governor has special judgment. I actually want to write a biographical report about you. Before I came here, the editor-in-chief of the New York Times talked to me. I wonder if you agree?"

Song Biao really didn't know how to answer, so he thought for a while before saying, "No problem."

He thought, at worst, it would be nonsense. Anyway, General Madnidolph would not tear through the various mysteries here. In short, in front of the whole world, his origin has been announced - he was born in a military family, his father and uncle had served in the Qing army. After the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895, he followed his uncle to Vladivostok to find a new way of life, studied at the local Russian church school, and later went to the Russian Kazan Non-commissioned Officer School, and studied at the Russian General Staff Military Academy for half a year. He served in the Russian army stationed in Lushun with the rank of lieutenant. During the war, he secretly organized an infantry regiment-sized principal.

The local armed forces were promoted to Russian infantry major, and then made many military achievements and led the Manchurian infantry regiment to expand into a division. After clearing out the bandits around Hunjiang, he returned to the front line of the Russian army and served as the commander of the New Manchurian Army under the direct appointment of Commander-in-Chief Kuropatkin, using the advantages of local armed forces to attack the rear of the right wing of the Japanese army. Later, he attacked the base camp of the Japanese Manchurian Army in Liaoyang. After the Battle of Liaoyang, he officially became the commander of the 14th Army of the Russian Far East Army. After the recovery of Lushun and Dalian, his troops were reorganized into the 15th Army of the Far East Army and returned to Shenyang to station.

At present, the 15th Army of the Russian Far East Army has been reorganized into the New Northeast Army. The Russian army and local troops each account for about half of the troops, are well-equipped and well-trained. They are regarded as the most powerful military armed forces in the three eastern provinces and the entire Far East.

As for why he fought with the Japanese, the main explanation at this stage is that he lived in Lushun in childhood and experienced the Lushun massacre during the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895. Most of his parents and relatives died in this massacre.

A world-class general who survived after the Japanese massacre became a world-class general who defeated the Japanese army and annihilated 100,000 Japanese soldiers ten years later. What an unfortunate story and what an inspiring legend. It seems that Americans are very interested in such stories, not only Americans, but probably the whole world.

After Li Enfu translated this report, Song Biao was at least sure that his English level was completely fine, so he asked Li Enfu: "Mr. Li, are you willing to join the Northeast New Army as a civil servant? Although I am still my accompanying translator, there are some details in the official duties I am responsible for and are treated more generously."

Li Enfu smiled bitterly and said, "No one should be against the salary!"

Song Biao asked Zhang Kangren again: "Actually have you considered working at Northeast Bank? Although we had previously intended to invite Xie Lunhui, a Chinese senior from China Merchants Bank, as the general manager, I think you may be more suitable."

Zhang Kangren was overjoyed and said, "I definitely can't refuse such a thing. If I could really host the national banking business in China, this would be my dream job."

Song Biao said: "That's good, I'll ask you a question by the way. If I want to invest in the oil industry in the United States and Mexico, do you think there are legal obstacles?"

Zhang Kangren said: "There is no obstacle in the United States. The United States is a country that welcomes free investment from all countries. This is the foundation of the development of the United States. So far, the United States is also the largest economic zone for international capital investment. If it is necessary to invest in oil in Mexico, it will be more troublesome. Although Mexico, Britain and France have signed a foreign investment protection law, this protection law has not expanded to China. The best way is to register companies in the United States and Britain to comply with the scope of the protection law of the United States and Britain. However, in terms of taxation, as well as other areas such as company registration and foreign investment income tax, it must also strictly comply with the provisions of the US-UK legal provisions."

Song Biao asked, "You can do this, right?"

Zhang Kangren replied easily: "There is no problem at all, but compared to the UK, I recommend registering in the United States, because the laws of each state of the United States are very different. For example, the anti-commercial fraud laws in New Jersey are much looser than those in New York. Previously, Robert Connslm, an American businessman who defrauded American railroad giant Vanderbilt, fled from New Jersey to New Jersey. Even American wealthy like Vanderbilt could not accuse him. Reasonable use of the differences in the legal terms of each state is a very important foundation in the United States."

Song Biao nodded slightly and said, "Okay, you have two things to do during this period. One is to cooperate with Rong Xingqiao to preside over the preparations of Northeast Bank, and to find more suitable personnel through your interpersonal relationships in the banking industry as much as possible. The second is to register a company for me in the United States, or Far East Commercial Bank to invest in the oil industry."

Zhang Kangren said: "I suggest you be cautious. Although oil is a profitable industry with high profits, in the United States, the monopoly bill of the US Standard Oil Company has been debated for many years. At present, the US oil business has been basically monopolized. In addition, although there are many cases of investing in oil that get rich overnight, more investors are losing all their money. There are countless American investors who have lost all their money, and they also require very high technology and professional knowledge."

Song Biao also had a lot of thoughts about this, saying: "In this way, find a suitable partner and register an oil company in Texas. The key is to find a very suitable partner, which is the key to the problem."

Zhang Kangren said: "My classmate Rong Kui at Yale University should be one of the suitable candidates. He studied chemistry at Yale Chef Academy of Sciences and then studied mining engineering at Columbia Mining College. Because he worked in the Washington Embassy in China for a long time, he met many senators. Compared to us, he is much lucky because he has a very special uncle and marriage. Therefore, his American nationality is undoubtedly protected in all states in the United States. In addition, in professional fields, he can find more suitable solutions through college relations.

The candidate is very important. In the United States, the alumni association is a very important force. Every person with higher education needs him. I was extremely close to the New York State bar qualification and rely on the support of the Columbia Law School. Unfortunately, the judge who was in charge of the sentence came from Harvard Law School. He unceremoniously ended my lawyer's path. If it were a judge from Columbia Law School, he would almost be 100% likely to support me in completing this American dream and the miracle of Columbia Law School."

"oh!"

Song Biao has never attended a university, nor has he studied in the United States, and he does not understand this feeling. Although his parents studied abroad, they did not seem to have heard that alumni associations can become very powerful. This is probably an exception in the United States. Just like graduates from Yale University will always be much smoother in American politics, while Harvard University will be much smoother in lawyers and business circles.

After thinking about it for a while, anyway, Song Biao said to Zhang Kangren: "Then you can handle it all. I really hope to bet a game. If you can win with millions of pounds, earn tens of millions of pounds, or even 100 million pounds, for us, China will be really saved. We can support tens of thousands of students to study in the United States, support modern military armed forces, and vigorously promote new education in China."

After a pause, he and Zhang Kangren, Li Enfu added: "China really needs a miracle."

Zhang Kangren sighed a lot and said, "Yes!"

Song Biao had set up a secretariat, a new political bureau, a research bureau, a bureau of the Foreign Affairs Bureau and a bureau of defense in his governor's office. There were many positions, but not many people could hold these jobs. After Zhang Kangren, Li Enfu and others continued to negotiate for a while, Song Biao invited these people to join the new political bureau first.

Regarding the Director of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, Song Biao originally had no definite candidate, but recently, someone has proposed to invite Wang Chonghui, who is qualified as a lawyer in the UK to take up this position. Song Biao is still very interested in this and wrote a letter to invite Wang Chonghui to take up this position.

During this period, when Song Biao was dealing with railway and financial issues in the three eastern provinces, he consciously wanted to form all five new policy institutions at the same time to ensure normal operation.
Chapter completed!