Henry Ford also considered these attractive prospects that Xiang Xiaoqiang mentioned. Bradley said that this was also an important reason why Mr. Ford was still so optimistic about Ming and decided to expand investment in Ming even after Ming lost two lawsuits. Bradley said,
Mr. Ford believes that once China is unified, the business opportunities that will follow will be 10,000 times those currently purchased by the U.S. military. A unified China will stimulate and drive the world economy and will also be one of the current purchases by the U.S. military.
Ten thousand times.
Xiang Xiaoqiang doesn’t understand this. If it’s easy to understand that hundreds of thousands of car orders are not enough to motivate Americans to amend the Neutrality Law, then there will be 10,000 times more business opportunities, which is not enough to motivate Americans to amend a law.
, this is too unreasonable.
Bai Deli held the wine glass, lowered his head, "well" for a long time, and finally smiled vaguely:
"... Of course, the American people certainly think so too... However, they believe that the prerequisite is that you, not the Beiqing, will unify China."
Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned and squinted his eyes:
"What? What do you mean?"
"well...well..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang slowly understood. He tilted his head in disbelief and said with a smile:
"Mr. Bai... you can't, right? Even now, your country still thinks that it may be the Beiqing who unifies China, not us?"
Badley smiled noncommittally and said:
"Lord Earl, this 'your country' you talk about is too big... Of course, you don't think that China will be unified by the Northern Qing Dynasty, but at least most people and congressmen think that you can't unify the entire China... Now in the United States
Domestically, the more mainstream view is that the Ming Dynasty's military power has reached, or is approaching its peak, and it is wise for you to accept the peace talks of the Beiqing...
"Based on the current comprehensive strength of the Southern Ming Dynasty and the subsequent war potential, the best situation is: you can attack and compress the Northern Qing Dynasty to the maximum extent, but you cannot completely eliminate the Northern Qing Dynasty. And Russia and Japan are unlikely to
Watching you completely wipe out the Northern Qing Dynasty... So, Lord Earl, the blueprint you mentioned that the Southern Ming Dynasty completely wiped out the Northern Qing Dynasty to unify China, and then immediately turn to peaceful construction... Not many people in the United States believe it.
"Therefore, whether it is political commentary in newspapers or debates on the radio, the United States now reflects a kind of worry - that is, by intervening in the Ming and Qing wars, in the end, it may neither make much money nor see China.
Complete reunification, more importantly, stimulated Russia and Japan and gave them more abundant resources.
Reasons to expand power in the Far East... And we, the United States, will fall into a dispute in the Far East that we do not want to get into. We will be dragged out of the peaceful life of the North American continent and dragged back into the troubled international affairs... And the "Neutrality Act"
》The original intention of enacting it was to prevent this situation from happening.
"Lord Earl, you have to understand that no one will let easy money go unearned. The problem is that it is not easy to make money. The concerns of most people and politicians in the United States are justified. As long as you cannot completely eliminate the Beiqing, you
The beautiful, peaceful and prosperous blueprint described is unlikely to appear. Even if you take the North
The Qing Dynasty has compressed to the north of the Yellow River, and even compressed to a corner of Northeast Asia. You will also continue to be more aggressive with Russia and Japan. You should not think that they will accept this status quo, and you should not expect to start enjoying the golden period of peace and prosperity immediately...
…The tension in East Asia will not be eliminated in the short term.”
Xiang Xiaoqiang patiently listened to this general analysis, raised his neck, drank all the brandy remaining in the cup, and thought bitterly in his heart:
... Damn it, where did the United States go that was so angry in the international arena in later generations? The same country, decades later, like Don Quixote, carrying a sword and challenging everywhere, now looks like an old man who has seen through the world... You fucking
It’s better to even it out!
He put down his glass and said unhappily:
"Your country should understand how much war potential we have, and whether we can completely eliminate the Beiqing Dynasty depends largely on your country. If your country is willing to be the arsenal of the Ming Dynasty, then your country's war potential will largely depend on ours.
war potential."
Badley was startled and felt that this young man was a bit unreasonable, so he smiled and said:
"Our country is our country, why should we build an arsenal for your country?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang sobered up his mind and felt that it was a bit unrealistic to expect the United States to make the same choice it made in the early days of World War II. He sighed and rounded out his words:
"Sigh... Isn't that what you did during the European War?"
Badley smiled and said:
"But you also know what we got, Lord Count. Except for the corpses of more than 50,000 soldiers, there is nothing else."
Xiang Xiaoqiang sighed:
"We don't want you to directly participate in the war, and it's not like you don't pay... The London Naval Agreement has expired. All major naval powers are starting to build ships, but our Ming Dynasty's slipway is empty... We originally planned
At least four new battleships and eight heavy cruisers have been commissioned, but none of them have been started yet... All this money is saved and planned to be spent on this land war."
What Xiang Xiaoqiang told was true, but in order to prevent leaks, he exaggerated the number of battleships by twice.
Badley didn't know whether he believed it or not. He just smiled and said:
"Don't be too downcast, Earl. I just said that the word 'your country' in your mouth is too big... It means that in our country, opinions on China are not monolithic. For example, Mr. President, and Mr. Ford, and
I, we are very confident in Daming. Otherwise, we at Ford would not be able to continue to expand our investment in Daming at this time."
Xiang Xiaoqiang raised an eyebrow:
"Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Ford, did they exchange views?"
Badley smiled and said:
"Yes... Mr. President personally wants to lead the United States to help Ming Dynasty, but... the opposition in Congress is very strong, and he cannot fully display his political ideas..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang stared at him again and asked:
"Then...except for the president, except for Mr. Ford, the other bosses...well, what about the leaders of the consortium? Which side do their opinions favor?"
Badley smiled and said:
"Obviously, most bosses want to completely throw away the Neutrality Law and open arms sales to you. In addition to arms dealers and our car dealers, other steel dealers, oil dealers, parts processors, assemblers, lumber dealers...etc.
A series of businessmen, big and small, will get a share of the pie. But this
The proportion of these people is too small, and the number of votes in their hands is far from enough to threaten the seats under the butts of members of Congress... Those who determine the weather vane of Congress are the middle class who just want to live a good life... Alas, Mr. Ford has single-handedly
He created the American middle class, but now it is the middle class that opposes him.
"In a word, if China did not have a golden period of prosperity brought about by complete reunification, your orders for hundreds of thousands of cars alone would not be enough to stimulate the U.S. economy. Yes, this can make the bosses' pockets a little bigger, but for
The risk lies with all Americans. This is why I, Mr. Ford, and the President cannot 'get' Congress, and we cannot 'get' the Neutrality Act."
Xiang Xiaoqiang listened and pondered, and suddenly realized that the man in front of him, Bradley, the major shareholder of Ford and the vice president of Ford in Ming Dynasty, might be Roosevelt's spokesperson in Ming Dynasty to some extent. The conversation between the two just now was completely
It's not like a conversation that these two people should have. The conversation between the two people is completely like they are talking here on behalf of their respective national leaders.
Yes, given Xiang Xiaoqiang's official status and his influence on the Empress of the Ming Dynasty, he is very capable of speaking on behalf of the top management of the Ming Dynasty. The question is, can Bradbury, an American civilian and just a businessman, represent the American decision-making level? Of course.
In the Ming Dynasty, the decision-making level was relatively integrated, and the queen and the ministers only needed to make the final decision.
Zhu Yourong is the "Chairman". But in the United States, the government is divided into three branches: the executive branch, the legislative branch, and the judicial branch. Roosevelt is just the head of the "executive branch". He is said to be the "United States of America"
The "CEOs" of many companies exaggerate their power.
... If you think about it this way, a CEO who is always constrained by the "board of directors" and is unable to realize his ambitions according to his own intentions is very likely to hide it from the board of directors and entrust a "friend" in his private capacity to test it out in Ming Dynasty.
Once he had this kind of speculation, Xiang Xiaoqiang became a little more optimistic. He knew that at least there were many big shots there who were thinking the same thing as him and were actively working hard. This way, he no longer had the feeling of "hot face but cold butt".
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and said:
"Mr. Bai, please convey some of my thoughts to Mr. Ford... I, Her Majesty the Queen, and the Zheng family... Our entire aristocratic group is willing to use personal rights without violating the law."
The identity should be as good as possible for your company in Daming.
Provide convenience for the development... Haha, of course, please also ask Mr. Ford and Mr. President to work more for the Ming Dynasty in the United States, use their influence more, and let American voters know that fully supporting the Ming Dynasty will have hundreds of benefits.
It’s harmful...hehehe..."
Badley also laughed, and immediately poured half a cup of brandy for Xiang Xiaoqiang, and said with a smile:
"Your Majesty the Earl is too polite... Our interests are together. Next, Mr. Ford will hire the best lobbying company to lobby as many congressmen as possible, and will also win more opinion leaders to stand on our side...
...In the past few days, Mr. Ford will also allocate funds to arrange several speeches...Actually, there is an advantage in this. Lord Earl, you have to know that politicians always have the best minds.
They are very rational and always consider interests more... But ordinary voters are often influenced by various emotions and make some very satisfying choices. If you persuade voters from an emotional and moral level, it is better than persuading politicians.
It's easier... Ah, by the way, Your Majesty the Earl, there is one thing I almost forgot, well, I may also need to ask Your Majesty the Earl for help..."
Xiang Xiaoqiang beamed when he heard this and said with a smile:
"Please tell me. As long as it's possible, I'll be happy to help."
Badley smiled and said:
"I just said that in Daming, our current development focus is on top-end luxury cars and military vehicles. Of course, there is no need to say more about military vehicles. As for top-end luxury cars, our Ford brand is now a 'Lincoln' brand."
"Oh, Lincoln sedan, you know, a very high-end brand."
"Haha, thank you. Currently, I am the largest shareholder of the Lincoln brand. In other words, the Lincoln subsidiary belongs to Ford and to me personally. Now the world is coming out of the depression, and the economy is getting better year by year.
The future of luxury cars is promising again. However, our Lincoln cars are constantly being challenged by competitors, which are also top-notch luxury cars.
Cadillac's challenge. Now we need to significantly improve the brand image and add more aristocratic atmosphere to Lincoln cars... We hope that when people mention Cadillac, they will say: Ah, that is a car driven by the nouveau riche. But when it comes to
When Lincoln was speaking, he would say: Ah, that is a special vehicle for nobles and royal families... Sir Earl, do you understand?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang squinted his eyes, thinking about what he wanted to say.
A few seconds later, Xiang Xiaoqiang, a former advertising practitioner, immediately understood what he meant. - Lao Bai wanted to find a brand spokesperson in Daming.
Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and was about to recommend himself, but Badley continued with a smile:
"Hehehe... Lord Earl, I wonder if you could try it out with Her Majesty the Queen to see if Her Majesty would be willing to accept a Lincoln car as... a gift from Mr. Ford to show respect to Her Majesty the Queen?"
Xiang Xiaoqiang was stunned. He didn't expect that old man Ford had such a big appetite and asked Zhu Yourong to be the brand spokesperson.
Speaking of which, Zhu Yourong often does things to "endorse" the world's top luxury brands. Not just her, many royal families do this. Without spending a penny, a lot of top brand owners lined up and cried.
Even though she was clamoring for free gifts, she still had to pick and choose and only choose the best ones, otherwise her image would suffer.
This... Zhu Yourong is currently "endorsing" Rolls-Royce. That's the real aristocratic spirit. You Lincoln... Lincoln is a good brand, but compared with Rolls-Royce, it's a bit... ugh
.
Xiang Xiaoqiang rolled his eyes, gritted his teeth, and said:
"Okay! Mr. Bai, I'm going to ask His Majesty and try to get His Majesty to accept one of your Lincoln cars."
Badley was overjoyed and immediately gave him some more brandy and said:
"Your Majesty, Earl, as long as Her Majesty the Queen can accept our car with honor, we promise...well, we will try our best to get Mr. Chaplin to publicly express his support for your Ming Dynasty during the interview and condemn the obstruction of American Jewish groups... Earl
Sir, Mr. Chaplin is also a Jew, and he is one of the most respected Jews in the United States. His words can have a considerable impact on the American Jewish community, hahaha..."
When Xiang Xiaoqiang heard this, he was immediately overjoyed. The two laughed loudly and clinked their glasses.