Chapter 29: Threat of Force

  In order to establish Nong Xindi, Jiang Yu allocated another 200 million yuan to invest in it. With the use of advanced agricultural machinery, the return on investment in agriculture is undoubtedly very high.

  Because agricultural production costs are very low, there is a very high rate of return.

  Of course, Jiang Yu doesn't have much money now. With the second phase of industrialization underway, all the money he made from rubber stocks has been invested in industry, infrastructure, agriculture, water conservancy and education.

  The 500 million loan from the German state-owned Revival Credit Bank only arrived at 100 million, which was withdrawn by Jiang Yu and invested in agriculture. Currently, the profitable funds that Jiang Yu can mobilize are mainly from the Huadong Group, but many of these profitable funds have been invested in expanding the scale.

  That is to say, at this time, the funds invested in the construction have already exceeded 1.5 billion.

  Its total assets are expanding at a crazy speed.

  To increase profits, Jiangyu focused on petroleum technology in Huai'an in April, and the East China Group soon launched technically mature plastic products.

  The plastic patent was applied for as early as 2006 and has now been authorized in various countries for some businessmen to produce.

  In many countries' patent laws, there is a compulsory licensing provision that if a patented technology has not been licensed for several years and is very useful, it will be compulsorily licensed.

  Authorized by the manufacturer, it can collect patent fees. Moreover, at this time, Jiangyu does not need to pay patent fees for producing plastics in China, but instead can use the patent fees collected from competitors to subsidize its own products, thereby forming a stronger market competitiveness.

  A large number of plastic products have emerged, and their applications are extremely extensive.

  From household goods to commodity packaging, to agricultural production, industrial production and so on, it has a wide range of uses.

  At the same time as oil refining, other by-products are also produced, such as asphalt that can be used to build roads, and raw materials for making toothpaste, laundry detergent, soap, shampoo, etc.

  For washing powder, soap and other cleaning products, Huadong Group must monopolize them because the monopoly of these goods represents huge profits.

  Who can leave these things behind?

  Of course, vagrants can.

  But normal people use it every day, and it's easy to imagine how amazing the profit is. As long as a monopoly is formed, the profit will be absolutely super high.

  For Huadong Group, which has monopolized the domestic oil industry, relying on its advanced productivity, it has already defeated American Kerosene in the domestic market.

  The quality and packaging of by-products such as laundry detergent, soap, and shampoo are even better than those in the US. Many American products don't have these, but once they're launched, they quickly occupy the market, and there are also many overseas orders.

  And quickly developed agents overseas, and absorbed a lot of capital.

  At this time, Jiang Yu already held a number of patents in his hands, and the annual patent fees he could receive were as high as hundreds of millions of yuan. However, Jiang Yu felt that the money was coming too slowly, so he sent people to various countries to mortgage these patents and apply for commercial loans from banks in various countries.

  At the same time, Jiang Yu began to mortgage those factories and commercial companies in his hands to various foreign firms for loans.

  Loans using patent applications are relatively hidden and have not received much attention, while loans using factories and enterprises have immediately attracted high attention from governments of various countries, which also touched Yuan Shikai's nerves.

  Jiang Yu suddenly applied for a large loan, causing British and French powers supporting Yuan Shikai to be on high alert.

  What is this warlord going to do?

  If he got the money, wouldn't it threaten the position of their spokesperson Yuan Shikai? Therefore, banks with British and French backgrounds all rejected Jiang Yu's commercial loan application.

  Yuan Shikai also sent a telegram to inquire.

  Yuan Shikai recently strengthened his intelligence network in the Huai River region and was shocked by what he learned.

  At this time, Jiang Yu had already joined forces with the Guangfu Society, controlling four provinces: Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Moreover, many factories and roads were also built.

  In the Jiangyu region, a thriving development momentum is presented, just like the sunrise in the east.

  Sun Zhendong's words to Yuan Shikai were not only true, but also reserved. The strength of Jiangsu and Hubei, if they really wanted to unify China by force at this time, was not a difficult task.

  At this time, Jiang Yu proposed commercial loans to various countries, which made Yuan Shikai even more frightened.

  Although Jiang and Yu nominally surrendered to Yuan Shikai, proclaiming their willingness to serve the central government, who knows whether they would stab him in the back at any moment. A sense of fatigue from plotting with tigers arose in Yuan's heart.

  Jiang Yu is like a sharp sword hanging over one's head, capable of hurting someone at any moment, or even putting them to death.

  Of course, Jiang Yu proposed commercial loans to various countries, not in order to eliminate Yuan Shikai and the revolutionary party, nor to unify China by force of arms, but rather to develop sufficient industrial scale with the outbreak of World War I, while also building up sufficient naval defenses before the war.

  Facing Yuan Shikai and the powers' worries, Jiang Yu first replied to Yuan Shikai by telegram, saying that this loan was a personal commercial loan, and the borrowed funds would be invested in industrial and commercial development.

  "If the President is not at ease, he can dispatch someone to supervise the funds. Our Chamber of Commerce has been dedicated to developing industry and commerce. If we are hindered by politics, our route may change or even overthrow the current political situation to ensure the smooth operation of industry and commerce. If President Yuan is willing to facilitate this commercial loan and eliminate misunderstandings due to political reasons, our Chamber of Commerce will share the concerns of the central government, and the Revival Army is also willing to dispatch 30,000 troops to recover the Mongolian border."

  The threatening implication of his telegram was clear.

  Although this is a veiled threat, it clearly states that if the East China Chamber of Commerce cannot obtain loans due to obstruction by the Beiyang government and is not allowed to develop industry and commerce, then they will have no choice but to change their development path, invest money in military affairs, and use military means to overthrow you, Yuan Shikai, before going to borrow from foreigners.

  This telegram gave Yuan Shikai a great fright once again.

  Later on, it was said that if Yuan Shikai was willing to facilitate the loan, the Reorganization Army would be willing to send 30,000 troops, equivalent to two or three divisions, to help Yuan Shikai recover the Mongolian region.

  At this time, the Mongolian issue became a major headache for Yuan Shikai. The Mongolian royal family and nobles took advantage of the Xinhai Revolution to not only break away from Chinese rule but also occupy the Inner Mongolia region that belonged to later generations.

  The whole country is eager for the recovery of Mongolia.

  If Yuan Shikai could recover Mongolia during his term, it would obviously be a very good political achievement.

  Yuan Shikai sighed after reading the telegram: "This little Jiang is not simple! He's now holding a butcher knife in one hand and a sweet date in the other. If I listen to him, he'll give me a sweet date; if I don't, he'll let me taste the blade."

  "Dad, what are we going to do?" Yuan Keding asked somewhat at a loss.

  The development of the situation has far exceeded Yuan Keding's expectations. The Revival Army, which was originally thought to be doomed to defeat, unexpectedly won, and it was a very clean and efficient victory.

  "What else can be done! Since he wants to borrow, let him borrow!" Yuan Shikai shook his head helplessly.

  "What if he uses the money to expand his military power, then what about us!" Yuan Keding was shocked and uncertain. Yuan Shikai grunted, "If you don't cooperate with him on the loan, he can get rid of us right now. Cooperating with him on the loan will at least drag things out a bit, and besides, that young Jiang may not necessarily use the money to expand his military power."

  ……

  At the same time, Jiang Yu went to Shanghai Concession and met with British Ambassador Sir John Jordan, a key figure in Britain's policy adjustment towards China.

  Zhu De came to China many years ago and had a good relationship with Yuan Shikai, which was also the key reason for his obtaining British support.

  The two sides met relatively smoothly. Zhū Dé tiān attaches great importance to this young man who has risen recently, thinking that he is the only one in China who can shake Yuan Shikai's position.