After dinner at Bai's house, according to the upper class custom at this time, it was time to show a movie for the guests. Xiang Xiaoqiang originally thought that an American movie would be shown, but Mrs. Bai showed a domestic movie from Ming Dynasty for everyone.
Romantic comedy.
During the year that Xiang Xiaoqiang came to Daming, he never went to the cinema. Of course, he watched some movies at home. Qiu Qiu is a Hollywood fan and only plays American movies and Disney cartoons at home. Xiang Xiaoqiang is very interested in the domestic movies in Daming at this time.
Not really impressed.
But Mrs. Bai obviously knows how to choose movies. The romance movie she chose tonight not only has a good plot, but is also well shot and acted, and it also fits the atmosphere of tonight. The young man and woman on the screen are simply too talented.
When it's funny, it makes people laugh out loud, and when it's touching, it's really touching. The most important thing is that it's not a superficial farce, but something that touches people's hearts while laughing. This is what the future holds.
I have never experienced this in domestic movies.
Xiang Xiaoqiang was impressed by the Ming Dynasty's domestic films and planned to go back and look for some classic Ming Dynasty movies to watch. He could no longer follow Qiu Qiu and Nizi to watch American blockbusters. The old Hollywood movies from the 1930s were good, but watching too many of them would be bad.
It will cause aesthetic fatigue.
The movie was shorter than expected, less than an hour and a half. After the show, it was not too late, it was only a little after nine o'clock. At this time, we entered the third item, which is the most important "agenda" - Bai
Madam accompanied Shang Xiaojun, Xiu Xiu, Ye Ziyu and Bai Xiaoman to chat by the charcoal basin in the small living room, while Badli invited Xiang Xiaoqiang to his study to chat.
Xiang Xiaoqiang knew that tonight's "drama" was here.
Badley brought Xiang Xiaoqiang into his private study. Although the house is a Chinese-style building, this study is Western-style. There are bookcases on all sides, a walnut desk, and a crackling fireplace. There is a small car parked next to the sofa.
There are several layers of wine on the cart.
Badley stood next to the small wine cart, picked up a big-bellied glass bottle, pulled out the glass stopper, turned to Xiaoqiang and smiled:
"Brandy?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded:
"Thanks."
Badley poured two glasses of brandy and gave one to Xiang Xiaoqiang. The two sat down on the sofa. Badley opened a wooden box on the coffee table, pointed to a pile of cigars inside, and said with a smile:
"Mr. Count, please take one. This brand is my favorite. I have always insisted that drinking brandy with a cigar is the best enjoyment in the world... Haha, if he were a normal friend, I would treat him
Said, you can't find better cigars than this in Nanjing... But for your lord, I can only say that in Nanjing - except for the Imperial Palace and Yanping Palace - you can't find anything better than this.
of cigars.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang laughed loudly, picked up a cigar, put it to his nose, smelled it, and said with a smile:
"Don't worry, Mr. Bai, I have never smoked such good cigars in the Imperial Palace or Yanping Palace. Yours is indeed the best cigar in Nanjing."
When Badley heard this, the two of them also laughed.
Xiang Xiaoqiang actually did this out of politeness. He didn't understand cigars at all, and how could he tell whether they were good or bad by smell?
Xiang Xiaoqiang leaned on the sofa, smoking a strong and mellow cigar, and drinking a strong and mellow brandy. His whole mouth was intertwined with two strong and mellow tastes. The feeling can only be described as "strong and intense".
Within half a minute, Xiang Xiaoqiang was almost knocked over. But once he survived this half minute, the indescribable and wonderful taste came all over... This old man said it right, these two things should be enjoyed together, it is really
The best enjoyment in the world. At least one of the best enjoyments.
Badley also leaned on the sofa, dragging his brandy glass and puffing away contentedly. The two of them didn't speak for a while, just puffing away, like two heavy smokers in a smokehouse.
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes, enjoying the hospitality of this "world's top capitalist", and began to think about what he was going to say tonight.
Badley's exclamation rang in my ears:
"...We lost Cuba, but fortunately we still have Cuban cigars to enjoy."
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes, twitched his ears, and immediately picked it up with great talent, and also uttered the same sigh:
"...We lost Beiming, but fortunately we still have Beiming pine nuts to eat."
Badley turned around:
"Pine nuts?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Yes, Nurgandusi red pine seeds are only produced outside the customs in Beiming. My wife likes to eat them very much... But even in Daming, ordinary low- and middle-income people cannot often afford them... The output itself is low.
, coupled with the Japanese monopoly and changing hands, it almost became a luxury product in the Ming Dynasty."
The "wife" he was talking about was actually Qiu Qiu. Pine nuts were Qiu Qiu's favorite snack. When watching movies at night, she always liked to hold a pack of pine nuts in her arms and eat them "kak ka ka" non-stop, just like a
Like a big squirrel.
Badley also sighed:
"Yeah, it's amazing to think about it. Many of the beautiful things we enjoy on a daily basis come from our enemies... The cigars in this box were rolled into cigars in the dictator Bastida's tobacco factory.
Then they were trafficked or smuggled to the United States... and pine nuts, which were planted in the pine trees of the dictator Emperor Guangwu.
They were harvested in the forest, then trafficked, or smuggled to the Ming Dynasty... The cost of this process increased at least several times. Without these barbed wires in the middle, they should have been high-quality and cheap. But now, we have to pay several times more.
The price is paid to...how should I say, to the barbed wire fence in the middle."
Xiang Xiaoqiang thought about who the "dictator Bastida" he was talking about was. After a moment, he remembered that it was Castro in the 1950s and the revolutionary who was more popular than Sharp Brother - Che.
-The one who Guevara overthrew. To say that Cuba is unfortunate enough, it was first used as a colony, then became independent and was ruled by the military dictatorship of Bastida. Then it was "happy" under the rule of the Castro family.
For more than fifty years, it was not until the 21st century that ordinary people were allowed to use mobile phones...
Cuba is too far away, and I can't control the place on the other side of the world.
Xiang Xiaoqiang sat up and made up his mind: But in this time and space in China, especially in North China, all suffering should end. We can't delay it any longer.
He chuckled and said:
"Mr. Bai, is Mr. Ford very optimistic about getting the Neutrality Act done?"
"What? Set it up? Sir Earl, I'm sorry, I'm not familiar with this word..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was startled and immediately smiled:
"Oh, it means to solve, to break through, so that it does not become a problem."
Badley understood and smiled:
"Oh, because the length of the telegram is limited, Mr. Ford did not go into too much detail. But his views are basically my views. Your country's arms purchase in our country has now encountered setbacks. We have also seen this. But in the long run
Judging from the situation, it is quite optimistic. As for how long this 'long term' will last, it depends on whether you are just preparing to circumvent the Neutrality Law, or whether you are preparing to challenge the Neutrality Law head-on."
"Oh? I'd like to hear the details."
Badley pondered for a moment and asked:
"If you don't mind...can you give us a rough idea of how big an order you plan to place in the United States when you return home?...Not just our Ford, but the order for the entire United States...approximately how big will it be?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang didn't know how to answer at the moment. When it came to the size of the total military purchase order, he really couldn't tell for a moment. This wasn't something he could decide on his own.
He thought about it and said:
"Mr. Bai, it depends on how big our war will be and how long it will last. As for military vehicles alone, a conservative estimate is 100,000."
Badley had no expression after hearing this. He just said "Oh" and repeated lightly:
"One hundred thousand vehicles?...Oh."
"One hundred thousand vehicles, to..." Xiang Xiaoqiang gritted his teeth and said, "... to two hundred thousand taels."
Badley nodded slightly:
"Well, one hundred thousand to two hundred thousand vehicles."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Mr. Bai, that's quite a lot."
Badley smiled and said:
"For a company, this is a big order... But for the United States as a whole, it is far from enough to tempt it to change a law. For our Ford company... Lord Earl, you want
You know, from 1908 to 1927, we were offline for 19 years
We produced 15 million Model T cars. From 1927 to 1931, we rolled out 4.5 million Model A cars in four years. An average of 94,000 Model A cars per month... 200,000 cars, which is only our production in two months.
...Of course, this only refers to our Ford family, not the entire United States."
Xiang Xiaoqiang swallowed dryly. Although he had known this set of figures for a long time, but now that someone from Ford had said it in person, he was once again impressed by the power of the United States to explode the automobile industry.
He coughed, took a sip of brandy as if nothing had happened, and said:
"Of course, this is also the reason why we favor the United States. You see, now we are short of cars. The reason why we first think of the United States instead of Germany is because of the United States' production of "hundreds of thousands of military vehicles waiting to be obtained immediately"
Ability... Besides, you are talking about the great boom period of the 1920s. But now, the Great Depression has not yet come out."
Badley nodded and said:
"What the Earl said is right. From this aspect, during the economic depression, if a company can receive orders that are enough for it to operate at full capacity for two months, it should be regarded as a gift from God... But, Earl
Sir, since we are already related by marriage, I think I must tell you bluntly... You, as well as many people in your country, even some dignitaries of your cabinet and royal family... seem to have overestimated something.
I understand the ripples your country's order can cause in our country..."
Well, Xiang Xiaoqiang understood that ripples are also water splashes. What this means is that the order of hundreds of thousands of cars may have shaken the earth in Ming Dynasty, but if it were thrown in the United States, it might not even make a splash.
Not to mention other companies, even Ford is not enough
It’s stuffed between teeth. So don’t expect too much. Even though we haven’t come out of the depression yet, a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. The order for hundreds of thousands of cars in the United States is very good, and the Americans are very happy. But tens of millions
Don't expect Americans to amend the Neutrality Act just for this reason.
Seeing that Xiang Xiaoqiang was a little embarrassed, Bai Deli comforted him and said:
"Of course, we are relatively optimistic about using some form to avoid the Neutrality Law."
"for example?"
"For example... to end the state of war. Aren't you negotiating? And it was Beiqing who took the initiative to seek peace. As long as you two sign an armistice agreement as soon as possible, the state of war will be over and you can buy whatever you want."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled bitterly and shook his head:
"We can't sign an agreement under such circumstances, right? The differences between the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still quite big. It is definitely impossible for the Beiqing to sign like this. And we definitely won't. We are now compromising and signing at any cost, and we will get
It was nothing more than a big purchase opportunity, but what was lost was Shandong and Shanxi. This was not about buying some military units.
It can be exchanged for the equipment. And according to my personal judgment, the Beiqing wanted to use negotiations to delay, raise troops, build defensive positions, and wait for winter or the next spring to counterattack. But it was useless. Now I have been singled out to preside over the negotiations.
The influence of the high command has been reduced to a minimum, and those old men in high positions don't think so at all.
"Well, speaking of it, their opinions are not necessarily wrong. I may have considered military factors too much, and those old men also considered political factors too much... Maybe Guangwu really did it for domestic stability.
To govern, it is not impossible to give up everything externally... It is said that it is better to give to friends than to domestic slaves.
This is also tradition. Now our Ming Dynasty is a 'friendly country'... In addition, we also need to take this opportunity to make repairs, improve logistics supply lines, build airports, and consolidate the occupied areas. It is true that if we continue to fight continuously, it may not be possible.
We can still win a big victory. Maybe, both sides are preparing for the next round of war."
Badley listened attentively, nodded thoughtfully, and leaned on the sofa again, smoking a cigar.
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled again and said:
"But...Mr. Bai and Mr. Ford, you don't just think that the benefits to the United States are limited to these hundreds of thousands of car orders, right?"
Badley turned his head and raised an eyebrow in the smoke:
"What the Earl means is..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled seductively:
"After conquering the entire northern China, we will definitely raise it to the level of Southern Ming... This is equivalent to building a country on the ground... With so much construction and investment, our Ming Dynasty will definitely not be able to absorb it. Ours
The production force is far from enough to support this task...and there is such a huge idle industrial capacity in the world.
There is only one country that is powerful, neutral, and has no war ambitions or wishes. In the post-unification China, the two huge economies that were originally closed to each other were combined, and all kinds of resources and wealth flowed unimpeded.
It is flowing, everywhere is full of construction and investment, and it is certain that there will be a golden period of economic prosperity.
"In Nanming, countless middle-class people will become millionaires as a result of participating in this round of investment. In Beiming, due to the smashing of the extremely unfair wealth distribution system, coupled with investment support from Nanming and all over the world, countless people who were originally hungry and destitute
, will enter the subsistence class. And the countless former subsistence class will enter the decent middle class... Oh, how many are there?
Families are beginning to want to own a car! The entire Ming Empire will become the second country after the United States to enter the era of universal automobiles within a generation... Ah! Ming Dynasty and the United States, these two great countries, will
Let's work together to create this great process...and in this great process, our Ford will become the protagonist...ahem, at least one of the protagonists."