At this time, although Mr. Bi looked very respectful in front of the old foreigner, he felt a burst of slander and contempt in his heart.
"Isn't this what you ordered me to do? Why do you still pretend to be ignorant in the end? You foreigners just like to be a showman and have a reputation, and you still have to clean yourself up when you do bad things. Net, I’m bah!”
Although he was disdainful in his heart, he did not dare to show any trace of his attitude. Mr. Bi said respectfully: "Yes, I specially visited several gangs and water villages with whom I have old relationships, and I have obtained the exact information. A total of Eighteen gangs, large and small, have united to intercept the Yangtze River Company's cargo ship at Kowloon Bend."
"Well! You did a good job on this matter. I will ask the company's finance to pay you a bonus later."
The old foreigner nodded and drank the red wine in the glass with satisfaction. Suddenly something came to mind, and he frowned and said: "How effective are these water bandits? Could it be that they are just bluffing, but they will be helpless against the cargo ship when the time comes. You know, these water bandits don't have machine guns or artillery, just a few small fishing boats." , can you get it?"
Mr. Bi once again said with contempt in his heart: "Don't you know whether you can take it off or not? If I hadn't come forward to mediate, your company's cargo ship, which was also a thousand-ton class, would have been almost sunk. ?”
"Mr. Lawrence, please don't worry. These gangs are all water bandits who have relied on the Yangtze River for a long time. Others may not be able to do it, but their methods on the water are extremely clever. Unless it is a warship, it will not be able to escape even if it wants to." ." Mr. Bi still replied respectfully.
"That's good. You're lucky too. I'll give you two days off and have a good rest at home."
"Yes, then I'll take my leave." Mr. Bi bowed and walked out of the room.
The old foreigner looked at Mr. Bi's leaving figure, but he was thinking mentally: when the news of the Yangtze River Company's ship accident came, how could he use this opportunity to step on this company and completely destroy this company that dared to come to Da Ying? The empire's companies competing for Yangtze River shipping business were completely crushed.
Thinking of this, the old foreigner couldn't help but have a sinister sneer on his face.
However, when Mr. Bi walked out of the door of this four-story foreign-style building and looked at the large gilded characters "Fosse & Company" written in both Chinese and English on the door, he felt a wry smile in his heart.
He didn't know at this time whether it was right or wrong to instigate and instigate the gangs to deal with Yangtze River Company this time. If the other party is also a foreign company like before, Bi Shunchang doesn't feel the least bit guilty. Anyway, if the dog bites the dog, I will just take the money with peace of mind.
But this time he was going to deal with a company run by Chinese, and Bi Shunchang felt a little uncomfortable. I was thinking that if Lawrence, who is so stupid, wants to do something like this by himself next time, should he refuse?
But if he really refuses, it means that he will lose his job, and what will happen to the whole family's food and drink?
Mr. Bi thought of this, with a trace of confusion in his eyes, shook his head with a wry smile, and slowly walked towards the bustling street.
It turns out that Flowserve was an old company founded by the British. The history of the company can even be traced back to the East India Company. The founder of Flowserve was a director of the East India Company at that time.
Fox & Company is involved in many industries in China, mainly mining and transportation. Shipping on the Yangtze River was one of the main businesses of Foss & Co. at that time.
During the late Qing Dynasty, due to the massive invasion of foreign ships, the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River passively entered the era of motorized ships.
Under the influence of the progressive thinking of the new bourgeois Westernization Movement of "learning from barbarians and developing skills for self-improvement", the Qing government's Premier Yamen successively hired a group of professionals from the UK with large sums of money to manage the Yangtze River waterway on their behalf starting in 1861. Fox Corporation is one of the capital agents.
Among these people from the country where the Industrial Revolution originated, there are many people who are dedicated to their duties and have great ambitions. However, it is not enough to have talents without money. In modern times, China had internal and external troubles, was poor and weak, and had no financial resources to manage the Yangtze River waterway, so it could only barely maintain it with low efficiency.
During the decades of management by the British, the Yangtze River waterway and navigation facilities were backward, with zero dredging and regulation methods, and the navigation capacity was very low. It was completely in a natural state of "the deeper the water, the larger the ship."
However, even in this state of low efficiency and management, the managers were British. This made Foss & Co. a dominant company at that time, almost monopolizing the long-distance shipping business on the Yangtze River.
Historically, the freight records for the first 100-ton steamer, the first 500-ton steamer and the first 1,000-ton steamer operating on the Yangtze River were all set by Foss & Co.
But behind all this is inseparable from the fact that the British fleet has been arrogant and almost unrivaled on the Yangtze River for decades.
The society of the late Qing Dynasty, which was still in a state of ignorance at that time, from officials to ordinary people, had been beaten to the bone and spirit by the foreign guns and cannons. Not to mention confronting them militarily, but also in commerce, as long as it was an industry that foreigners were involved in, Chinese businessmen could only stay away and did not dare to compete with them.
But just because Chinese people don’t dare to do so doesn’t mean that people from other countries don’t dare to do it either.
After entering the 20th century, with the rise of the German Empire, the situation in Europe became worse and worse, and the smell of war became stronger and stronger. The British Empire began to gather military forces scattered around the world, preparing to exert pressure on the German Empire.
But if they want to maintain the vested interests they have obtained, they can only hand over some areas that are not strategically important to their allies and younger brothers to manage.
Therefore, the British Empire's Pacific Fleet, which had dominated China for decades, was ordered to return to Europe, and the military port in Shanghai was handed over to its younger brother the United States to garrison.
At this time, the American Guachang Company, which had long coveted the Yangtze River shipping business, finally waited for the opportunity.
Under the escort of American warships, it did not take long for Qichang Yangxing to seize the monopoly of Yangtze River shipping.
The reason is also very simple. American warships escort ships of their own companies for free, but escorting ships of other countries requires a high fee.
In this case, the costs and freight costs of both companies are not at the same level. How can Flowserve Company compete with Qichang Company?
Therefore, before the 20th century, the British dominated the Yangtze River, but in the 20th century, it became the Americans who made the decision.
However, with the outbreak of the European War and the United States' participation in the war, American warships on the Yangtze River became increasingly rare. In addition, the war in the early Republic of China resulted in an overwhelming number of water bandits along the Yangtze River. The cargo ships of Qichang Yangtze Bank also began to be repeatedly robbed on the Yangtze River. Long-distance shipping on the Yangtze River was almost cut off, and no company or foreign bank could monopolize it anymore.
Among them, Fox played a disgraceful role.
