Beiyang reactionaries

Mineral rights and interests, at the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, many people appealed for the recovery of the mineral rights and interests taken away by the great powers.But now, if the oil exploration rights in the Sichuan Basin are sold to Standard Oil of New Jersey, public opinion will not speak well.

Who dares to take responsibility.

"Boom boom boom——"

When everyone was silent, Duan Xun gently knocked on the table and said: "Since we are sitting in this position and listening to the voice of praise, we must also be prepared to suffer infamy. Our country is still a poor agricultural country, and it is still developing. Therefore, don’t lose your face for some so-called reputation and face. What I want to know is, if we cooperate with Standard Oil of New Jersey, it will help our oil industry and whether it will really lose our sovereignty. "

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"What I want to know is, if we cooperate with Standard Oil of New Jersey, how much will it help our oil industry, and will we really lose our sovereignty? Minister Song (Song Hanzhang), please introduce to you, the specifics of Standard Oil of New Jersey conditions of cooperation."

"Yes."

Song Hanzhang immediately opened the previous information and said: "Standard Oil of New Jersey has a lot of cooperation with my country. Currently, Standard Oil of New Jersey is responsible for half of the oil imported by my country. They themselves have a branch in Shanghai and have explored oil fields in my country before. Last year we decided to form the Petroleum Corps. After exploring the Sichuan Basin, experts from the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey also went to the Sichuan Basin. There was a report in Sichuan, but we did not stop it at the time. They should have confirmed that there should be oil in the Sichuan Basin, so Only then did they decide to ask us for the exploration rights and mining rights in the Sichuan Basin. If they really confirm it, then with their technical capabilities, they will be able to find oil fields in Sichuan in a short time."

"Their request is that my country give them 50 years of oil and gas exploration rights in Sichuan Province, and 40 years of exploitation rights once oil fields are discovered."

Duan Xun shook his head slightly above.

What a big appetite.

50-year exploration right and 40-year mining right.

Among the economic cooperation agreements signed by the Chinese and North Korean governments, China has not gone so far.However, Standard Oil of New Jersey really regards China as the Philippines and their colony, so it is so lionized.If they were really given 50-year exploration rights and 40-year exploitation rights, then Sichuan's oil and gas resources would be sold directly to Standard Oil Company of New Jersey.

The companies of the great powers who came to plunder China's resources in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China did not make such a request.

Damn.

"If we really agree to such a condition, then we will really sell the mining rights. In a place as big as Sichuan, how can we give them 50 years of exploration rights and 40 years of mining rights."

Duan Xun smiled bitterly.

This condition is too bad, if you agree, you will really be hunted down by the media.Fortunately, Standard Oil of New Jersey dared to propose such a condition.Wang Yongjiang below also frowned and said: "Prime Minister, there are indeed many advantages to cooperating with Standard Oil of New Jersey, but we can't agree to all conditions. If they are given 50 years of exploration rights, then the entire oil and gas resources in Sichuan will be monopolized by them. It is not a good deal economically. And since Standard Oil of New Jersey puts forward such a condition, it should be certain that there is oil in the Sichuan Basin, so we will take the initiative. There is not only one oil company in the United States, so even if we want to cooperate, It doesn’t have to be with Standard Oil of New Jersey either. If they don’t change some conditions, we can work with another oil company.”

Big appetite.

Wang Yongjiang immediately objected.

Sichuan is not a small place, and Sichuan has a lot of minerals.Chongqing is currently an industrial city in China that can be compared with Wuhan and Shanghai, and its initial development also relied on the mining industry.

Sichuan is rich in coal and also rich in iron ore.Therefore, the Sichuan Iron and Steel Plant established in Chongqing will become one of the largest steel plants in China.If the Sichuan Basin really has a lot of oil, then according to the conditions of New Jersey Standard Oil, it would be really a disadvantage.

However, Wang Yongjiang continued: "However, if we cooperate with Standard Oil of New Jersey, there are indeed many benefits. Just like Minister Liang (Liang Huankui) said just now. Since Standard Oil of New Jersey chose to invest, it must have discovered oil fields in the Sichuan Basin. They must be sure. At that time, they will have to extract oil there and build an oil refinery, so the scale of investment will be large, which will greatly promote the local economic development. And this is China after all, they The most is to send some technicians and import those machines and equipment. Everything else depends on our country. If there is such an oil production plant and refinery in Sichuan, it will not only improve the current situation of lack of oil in our country, but also use this oil field to cultivate Our own technical talents. Let us learn how to explore oil fields, how to produce oil, how to refine oil, and how to manage oil fields. And they must set up machine repair shops to maintain and repair drilling equipment, oil production equipment, and oil refining equipment. Our people can be there Learning and developing our own oil machinery. It can be said that cooperating with Standard Oil of New Jersey will greatly reduce the time compared with our own exploration.”

There are really big benefits.

China's oil industry has just started, and its strength is weak in many aspects.Yanchang Oilfield and Yumen Oilfield are also being explored.The oil extraction equipment and oil refining equipment here are also imported from the United States.Although China has also established oil production plants and refineries, they are generally backward.

Not only backward in technology, but also in management.

If you can learn from Standard Oil of New Jersey, just learning their oilfield management experience will be of great benefit to China's oil industry.

So everyone is still looking forward to the cooperation with Standard Oil of New Jersey, but the conditions they put forward are too poor.

Hearing Wang Yongjiang's words, Duan Xun quickly smiled and said: "Doing business? Isn't it just sitting on the ground and paying back the money when it lands. Standard Oil of New Jersey puts forward their demands, and we can also make our demands. Both parties can sit down and find out. A most suitable cooperation plan. Some concessions can be made, but some can be fought for. If the two sides really can't reach an agreement, they can only give up the cooperation. It's no big deal. We can also find other oil companies to cooperate. As everyone said, since they decided to invest, they must have a certain degree of confidence. In this case, we are not completely without leverage. The Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industry will be responsible for this negotiation.”

Started to get a little angry.

But soon Duan Xun was relieved.Doing business itself is a process of bargaining, and Standard Oil of New Jersey is also testing the bottom line of the Chinese government.

Standard Oil of New Jersey, as one of the first oil companies to enter China, used to do more with trade.Export oil, including oil products, to China.They are now responsible for more than half of domestic oil imports.

They should be the companies that can most directly feel the Chinese market.In recent years, China's oil demand has increased rapidly.That's why they propose cooperation.Since it's cooperation, it's much easier to handle.China has oil fields in its hands. Although they don't know where they are, Standard Oil of New Jersey must be certain when it decides to invest.Since it has oil fields in its hands, China also has a certain bargaining chip when negotiating.

"As for the issue of public opinion that Minister Liang said..."

Duan Xun was also a little silent.

The conference room fell silent.The period between the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China was the time when Chinese nationalism was on the rise.Duan Xun was able to reach his current position and gain such a high reputation because he won people's hearts under the banner of nationalism.Every action of Duan Xun is stirring up nationalism.The People's Party can develop rapidly and become the largest party in China, with more than one million members within a few years.It was also because of the people's party's proposition that it echoed the trend of folk nationalism at the time and attracted those young students.If you sell resources at this time, it will conflict with the current nationalist trend of thought.

That's what public opinion is.

You can use public opinion, but you may also be kidnapped by public opinion.

"Yanji (Chen Bulei), start recording what I said from now on, and after sorting it out, it will be published in major newspapers in my name."

"Yes."

Chen Bulei is Duan Xun's imperial literati and the director of the cabinet office.Not only Duan Xun's speech, but also many cabinet statements were written by Chen Bulei himself.

"Our country is currently a poor and backward agricultural country, and this situation will last for many years. In the next many years, this time may be ten years, or it may be 20 years or even 30 years. That is to say, our country will be in a long-term The situation of poverty and backwardness. This situation exists objectively and will not change according to our will. Therefore, we must face up to this situation, admit this reality, and face this situation bravely. The common people, or those public opinions can They can be very impetuous. But all of us here must keep our heads clear and see the current situation of our country clearly. Because any decision we make while sitting here will affect the development of our country, so we cannot be like them .”

"Our country is an agricultural country, but our agriculture is backward, and we are still in the stage of relying on the sky. Some farms in the United States have begun to use agricultural machinery, and the efficiency of arable land sowing is getting higher and higher. The amount of arable land that one person can manage is more than Hundreds of acres and hundreds of acres. Germany has built a large number of chemical fertilizer factories, and chemical fertilizers have been widely used on their arable land, which has greatly increased their food production. But our current situation is that water conservancy facilities are seriously insufficient, let alone agricultural machinery. Said that the fertilizer industry is completely zero. Our current agriculture is no different from that of 100 years ago, or hundreds of years ago, or even thousands of years ago, and agricultural technology has not developed at all. Our agriculture is still primitive agriculture. "

"Let's talk about our industry. Although China started industrialization since the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. But until now, our industry can only be said to have some foundations, but compared with those industrial powerhouses, it is far behind them. I just read the report on China's radio market some time ago. Although China already has a radio manufacturing company, it currently only accounts for 6% of China's radio market. According to the forecast of the Bureau of Statistics, the scale of China's radio market will exceed 90 million within five years. But in such a market, our own national industry occupies too little share. This is the status quo of China's industrial products. Most of the industrial products on the market in our country are imported, and our own production is limited. And the industry As far as the most core equipment manufacturing industry is concerned, we are even further behind. Now our country can manufacture some simple machinery and equipment, which is still far from manufacturing the machinery and equipment needed by our industry. At present, the machines used in our factories [-]% of the equipment is imported. China’s current annual trade deficit is mainly due to the fact that we need to import the machinery and equipment needed by the industry and the industrial products needed by the market. Although we export a large amount of minerals and agricultural products every year, But compared with machinery, equipment and industrial products, the price is too low. This is the tragedy of agricultural countries, and they can only be slaughtered by those industrial countries.”

"And our education."

swell.

Domestic public opinion on the status quo is somewhat inflated.In particular, China has taken back the customs, canceled the concessions, and taken back such and such powers, so they all think that China is now powerful again.Can sit on an equal footing with the great powers again.

They are completely unaware of the gap between China and those industrial powerhouses.All of them live in cities, and they don't know the situation in China's Everbright countryside at all.They don't know that China is still an agricultural country, and it is a poor agricultural country.

But they can swell, but Duan Xun must be sober.Because Duan Xun is a political strongman, in the current Chinese power system, Duan Xun's will is almost equivalent to the will of the national government.If Duan Xun is not sober, the national policy will not be sober.Therefore, even if China has made some progress, Duan Xun cannot be inflated.

"Let me just talk about myself. I studied at the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy in the late Qing Dynasty. This school in Japan is only a military academy for training low-level officers. The Japanese students in the same group as me are still middle-level officers in the Japanese army. Those who have reached the position of lieutenant commander are all very good. Most of them are still major commanders now, and some of them are just captains who have been unsatisfactory, or have quit the army long ago. But look at our group of students who returned from Japan and are now in the army What level are they all?"

"What's the reason? Of course there are also historical reasons. It just happened to coincide with the great social changes in the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China. But the more reason is that our country lacks systematic military education, and our country's military education is backward. A non-commissioned officer who only trains Japanese grassroots officers School graduates, back home, already have a high degree in the military.”

Duan Xun directly took himself as an example.

There is no shyness at all.

Between China and Japan, the gap in military quality is reflected here.The Japanese non-commissioned officer academy only trains low-level officers, but they are all very high-ranking after returning to China.

Even in the Beiyang Army, graduates of Japanese non-commissioned officer schools can at least serve as company commanders (post commanders) after returning home.If it is in the southern army, the lowest is the battalion commander (battalion management belt).

After a year or two, they can all be promoted.In the year of [-], how many students who had just graduated from the Japanese Non-commissioned Officer Academy for two or three years were already at the rank of regiment commander in the Chinese army, and some even mixed up to the rank of brigade commander.

But what about the Japanese army?

After they graduate, they are at the level of platoon leader and deputy platoon leader.Moreover, their promotion speed is very slow. It is impossible to get to the rank of captain (regiment level in China) without more than ten years in the army.And this is a relatively fast promotion.In this way, the quality of the officers of the two armies can be seen.

"Look at our universities again. It's not that I want to deny our university education, but our universities are indeed inferior to others. Many of our university professors are just students who have just graduated from school. They only need to get one in foreign universities. With a master’s degree or a doctorate degree, you can become university professors when you return to China, and these people are very sought-after. This is the current education situation in our country.”