1905: Beer Hall Speaker

Page 142

Germany has such a small territory and a small population, yet it now sells as many as 27,000 cars a year, some of which are even exported to China.

China needs at least 100,000 cars to enter the market each year to meet demand. This is an unimaginably huge market, involving profits of up to hundreds of millions of yuan.

Tongda Power doesn't need to occupy the majority of the market; just having a portion of the market is enough for it to take off.

"Chen, as I mentioned before, some of my friends are very optimistic about the company's future and are interested in investing. I wonder if you would be willing to accept that?"

"Modern companies can no longer operate in isolation; the future lies in collaborating with multiple parties to achieve development."

"If you're willing to accept, they promise to help you expand into the European market in the future, and the technology and equipment your company needs won't be a problem either."

Carl brought up the issue of investing in the company again. He had already written to some relatives and friends in China who had a lot of money but nowhere to invest it. They happened to have a promising investment channel, even though they didn't have enough money. So they hit it off immediately.

They have now formed an inspection team and are en route to Shanghai by cruise ship from Kiel.

Upon hearing this, Chen Jiaxie hesitated to make a decision: "I will convene a board meeting to discuss this matter. How about we set the date for the day after tomorrow?"

“No problem!” When Karl heard this, he knew that Chen Jiaxie had agreed. After all, he was the controlling shareholder and he was willing to hold a meeting to discuss it. All that was left was to go through the formalities.

Chen Jiaxie also considered the company's future overseas market and the channels for introducing technology and equipment before finally agreeing to this matter. After all, many things still require the help of the Germans, and with their help, the company's development will be much faster.

Giving up some shares now would only dilute your own equity stake. Giving them up before would definitely not have been worthwhile, but it might not be so now.

Tongda Power's stock price has recently surged again due to positive news about the company's capital increase and expansion. The stock price has risen rapidly from 0.61 yuan to 2.2 yuan.

Of course, the most important positive news is the subsidy policy for domestically produced vehicles announced by the Shanghai Municipal Government. In the future, for every car a company produces and successfully sells, the government will refund at least 50 yuan in taxes.

With a multitude of positive news, Tongda Power's valuation has soared to an unprecedented three million yuan, attracting a large number of investors, not just from Germany, but also from the United States, Britain, and France.

“Karl, I firmly believe that the company has a bright future, and joining the company will be the wisest decision you’ve ever made.”

Do you know what my dream is?

Carl asked, "I'm curious, do you still have ideals?"

Chen Jiaxie walked up to a Jetta that was being tested, patted the front of the car and said, "Of course! Every Chinese man has the spirit of 'cultivating one's own virtue when poor, and helping others when successful' in his career."

Karl said awkwardly, "Please explain more clearly. Although I have learned modern Chinese, I still cannot understand your classical Chinese."

Chen Jiaxie said, "When you are poor, you should be a moral person; when you are rich, you should be a person who spreads benefits."

Carl understood: "What a great proverb!"

Chen Jiaxie stroked the cold steel body of the car and murmured, "My ideal is that in the future, every Chinese family can drive a car!"

"Imagine China's population of 400 million, even if each household were to buy a car, what a terrifying market that would be!"

Karl's mouth dropped open in disbelief: "That's impossible. Even Europe can't do it. Our cheapest cars cost 1,500 yuan each. That price is simply unaffordable for ordinary families. Even for workers, it would take at least ten years of saving every penny to buy a car."

Chen Jiaxie said with an arrogant look, "Then we'll increase workers' wages and then lower car prices!"

"From the very beginning, I didn't want to make so-called rich people's toys and luxury goods; I wanted to make a people's car!"

“Karl, nothing is impossible. If there’s a problem, I’ll solve it; if there’s a difficulty, we’ll overcome it.”

"Technology is developing and the economy is growing. One day, people's income will be able to afford cars, and our cars will also be cheaper so that people can afford them."

"If a car is priced at 1,500 yuan, we can only sell less than 2,000 cars a year. But if we lower the price of the car to 500 yuan or even 400 yuan, we can sell 10,000 or even 50,000 cars a year!"

"I want to etch the word 'accessibility' into the memory of every Chinese person and even the whole world. At that time, how much money we make will no longer matter."

"Whenever the world thinks of cars, Tongda will be the symbol of cars. At that time, will you still think money is the most important thing?"

"A true man should live in this world. Life is but a fleeting few decades, but as long as we succeed, we will be remembered in history, and the world will remember us for hundreds or even thousands of years!"

Karl understood Chen Jiaxie's ambition, something he never dared to even dream of. Although Europe didn't have the concept of being remembered in history, it was because they lacked the habit of recording history.

If given the chance to have his name and his company remembered by the world, Karl couldn't even imagine how glorious that would be; he would become the most illustrious member of the entire family.

Chen Jiaxie looked at the stunned Karl, a genuine smile spreading across his face. He patted Karl on the shoulder and then left the factory area.

Chen Jiaxie believed that no man could refuse such an opportunity to be remembered by the world. This was no longer a matter of money and profit, but a supreme honor.

Chapter 236 The Careless Military

It was past 11 p.m. when a Ferghana horse-drawn car, manufactured by Wuhu Power Company, sped toward the Forbidden City.

The two men in the car were Lieutenant General Jeong Pai-yao, Chief of the General Staff of the Ministry of National Defense, and Major General Tai Ming-te, Minister of the Joint Logistics Command. They sat in the back seat with different expressions. Jeong Pai-yao looked serious, with anger and unease in his eyes.

Major General Dai Mingde, on the other hand, remained calm and even seemed preoccupied with examining the car's interior, occasionally sticking his hand out the window to feel the wind speed.

"Chief of Staff Zheng, do you think the military will have to purchase a lot of cars in the future? These things are much more convenient to use than horse-drawn carriages. They don't need feed, professional grooms, or veterinarians, and the operating costs are much lower."

"The only downside is that the trucks can't carry much cargo, and they're ridiculously expensive. Two trucks are equivalent to a cannon. If they were cheaper, that would be great."

Dai Mingde considered the possibility of incorporating internal combustion engines into the military's logistics and transportation system, not for any other reason than that these things do not occupy official positions and have low operating costs.

The military now requires at least three soldiers to be assigned to each horse-drawn carriage: a driver, a groom, and an attendant. The driver is responsible for driving the carriage, the groom is responsible for feeding the horses, and the attendant is responsible for managing the loading of the carriage.

Ten carriages require a veterinarian, a dedicated parking area for the carriages and stables, and daily feed costs.

Under the same circumstances, an internal combustion engine vehicle only needs one driver. When it is driven, it consumes gasoline. When it is not driven, it does not need to be fed or veterinarians. Only a mechanic is needed. Training mechanics is much easier than training veterinarians.

Moreover, repairing a car is much less troublesome than raising a horse. As long as you have enough tools and parts, the car will not have any problems, and if there are problems, it can be repaired quickly. But horses are delicate. If you don't take good care of them, they will die. After they die, you can only eat them. You don't even have the chance to repair them.

On the battlefield, vehicles are far more forgiving than horses, and their speed and carrying capacity are also far superior. If you take a horse to war, it will eat almost half of the supplies it needs to transport on the road, while a car only needs a few barrels of oil.

There are many advantages, but Lieutenant General Zheng Baiyao couldn't listen to any of it at the moment: "What time is it? You still have the mind to think about this?"

"You'd better think about how to explain this to the head of state first. With such a big commotion in India, are you considering buying a car? You should be thinking about how to save face in front of the head of state first."

After saying that, still seemingly unsatisfied, Zheng Baiyao pounded on the car door and said, "The Ministry of National Defense can't even afford to provide one car for every major general and above, and you still want to issue them to the grassroots troops?"

"Who the hell doesn't know that our army is broke? We can't even afford to buy rifles, yet we're thinking of buying vehicles. Each vehicle costs over a thousand yuan. Even if you and I sold our entire bodies, skin and flesh, we still wouldn't be able to scrape together that amount!"

Dai Mingde said, feeling wronged, "It's just a wild idea, why is it making such a fuss?"

Zheng Baiyao glared at him fiercely: "Even daydreaming is not allowed!"

Dai Mingde muttered, "What's the difference between a person without dreams and a salted fish?"

Zheng Baiyao's eyebrows twitched: "What did you say?"

Dai Mingde said, "It's nothing, I just haven't had any late-night snacks and I'm hungry, so I'd like some salted fish."

Zheng Baiyao cursed, "You spineless coward! At a time like this, you're still thinking about eating salted fish. If the leader really gets angry this time, we'll all go to the Northern Desert Rehabilitation Camp and eat cow dung!"

Dai Mingde remained silent. In any case, he was just there to make up the numbers and share the blame. This was an innocent disaster!

The pot was too big; too few people could carry it, so even he, the logistics commander in the capital, had to come and lend a hand.

India is in an uproar. The military's planned Raiders of the Lost Ark operation has completely spiraled out of control, and even the military itself doesn't know how to assess the situation.

You say it failed? Well, that's not all. The treasury beneath the temple was completely emptied. The amount of gold and gems transported out far exceeded expectations. It wasn't just a few dozen tons as the intelligence had suggested; it was over three hundred tons, and all of it was successfully loaded onto the ship.

But if you say the operation was successful, that's not quite the case, because things have escalated too much! Now the Indian state of Kerala and even several surrounding states are in complete chaos, with killings and disorder everywhere.

The operation was out of control from the very beginning; it merely achieved its objective, but the impact was far more severe than anticipated.

The military and the National Security Intelligence Service were originally planning a joint operation, scheduled to begin on April 20.

The first step of the plan was for National Security Intelligence Service agents to enter Kerala a month in advance and begin stirring up conflict between Hindus and Muslims, inciting religious independence and ethnic antagonism. Then, on the 20th, they would detonate explosives to destroy several mosques, thus fully triggering the conflict.

They did all this under the guise of the Comintern, so they could easily shift the blame later.

The second step of the plan was to have several merchant ships docked at coastal ports take advantage of the chaos after nightfall to allow disguised soldiers to land and directly enter the target area to begin looting. A total of 1,200 ground troops were to be deployed, and they were to take as much as they could.

Afterwards, everything was blamed on the Comintern, and they were made to take the fall.

As long as the impact isn't too great, the British can only suffer in silence, and the matter will eventually be dropped.

But no one expected that the imposter would run into the real deal! After the National Security Intelligence Service agents infiltrated the target area to stir up conflict and create confrontation, the Comintern actually came and sent people to Kerala to carry out a revolution.

This caused chaos. The riots, which were originally planned to break out on the 20th, actually erupted on the 17th. Moreover, it was not just a simple ethnic and religious conflict; a proletarian uprising movement had also been mixed in.

After the riots broke out, Islamists and Hindus fought each other, the proletariat and Indian nobles fought each other, and in the end, it became indistinguishable, and they just killed each other indiscriminately.

The riots spread from the city to the surrounding rural towns and villages, and then to several neighboring states, causing chaos everywhere.

The military assumed that the National Security Intelligence Service had acted ahead of time, so they didn't wait any longer and proceeded directly to the temple on the night of the 17th, following the original plan.

Not content with emptying the temple, they even stormed into the capital of the Indian princely state, infiltrated the Communist International's ranks, murdered the king of the Indian princely state, plundered his treasury, set several large fires in the city, and continued to steal as they pleased.

After getting hooked on looting, the military's commando teams didn't even leave during the day, continuing to wave red flags and rampage, still looting.

There's no way around it, Indians have too much gold, especially the high-caste nobles, who wear big gold rings on their fingers, big gold bracelets on their wrists, big gold chains around their necks, and even big gold rings on their noses like buffalo!

The assault team soldiers were so enraged that they didn't care about the retreat time anymore. After looting the temple and the palace, they went on to plunder the nobles.

Half of the people were transporting goods back and forth, while the other half were killing like madmen. The Indians themselves were dumbfounded by the killing. Where did this group of murderers come from? They dragged anyone wearing jewelry to the roadside and chopped off their hands and necks, even cutting off their noses!

Only a few key members of the Comintern recognized them, but they didn't say anything. They figured they were just there to cause trouble anyway, so they didn't care.

After two days and two nights of looting, the military commando team managed to plunder 407 tons of gold and 12 tons of jewelry, ivory, and other valuables.

Before the British counterinsurgency troops arrived, the military quickly withdrew with their treasures, leaving the Indians to continue their rampage.

But once the killing begins, it's not so easy to quell. In the end, it's no longer a religious conflict or a proletarian uprising, but pure violence and slaughter.

The Communist International members couldn't hold on any longer and declared that the uprising was too successful to control, so they had no choice but to withdraw.

The Wehrmacht and the Comintern, as the culprits, had done their homework, but their biggest mistake was failing to conduct a historical investigation.

In 1899, Kerala and the surrounding areas experienced a major famine. The estimated death toll across India was ten million. That's right, ten million. It's not even a fraction of that. It's obvious that the data was manipulated. The actual number of deaths is impossible to count.

Then in 1903, Kerala experienced another famine, killing hundreds of thousands of people. The British didn't even bother to keep track of these numbers; it was child's play.

In 1907, famine and plague struck the neighboring state of Kerala, killing hundreds of thousands of people, but the situation was quietly swept under the rug.

Even now, the Indians in this region, no matter how Buddhist they are, can't take it anymore. Everyone's emotions are stretched to the limit, and it's a huge powder keg.

Then the Wehrmacht and the Comintern, completely unaware of the situation, rushed over and set it on fire, almost blowing themselves up as well.

So far, the riots in Kerala have affected the entire southern part of India, with countless deaths and property damage. A third of India has fallen into chaos and killing. The British have been unable to intervene and can only wait for the riots to shrink and let the Indians slowly eliminate their own threats before they come in to clean up the mess.

The military had no idea they had caused such a huge mess, and were still gloating over their gains that far exceeded expectations, until news came from India tonight.

Things were too chaotic before, and news couldn't get out. Now that things are a bit more stable, news is finally getting out, and that's when they realized how big a powder keg they had ignited.

If it turns out that the British National Army was responsible, China and Britain will definitely declare war, because the consequences are too great and neither side can withstand them. This is practically a full-scale invasion.

Once the military learned of this, what else could they say? They should all rush to the Imperial Study to apologize, or Zhao Yan would probably send them straight to the northern desert to eat cow dung cakes.

The car quickly arrived at the gate of the Forbidden City. Several other cars arrived at the same time, all carrying generals, with at least two generals crammed into each car.

The military is really poor; even a general can't have a dedicated car. If he goes out in the middle of the night, he has to find a shared ride, and the driver has to pick up one person and then another.

Upon arriving at the palace gate, everyone had no choice but to obediently park their cars. Entering the palace at night, who would dare to drive in, not even during the day?

Zhao Hao had already been waiting at the palace gate. He had received a message from Zhao Yan instructing him to wait there and not to give the generals a hard time.

"Where are Minister Wang and Vice Minister Chen? Didn't they come?" Zhao Hao looked around and was surprised to find that the top two officials of the Ministry of National Defense were not there, which was quite absurd.

Although Zhao Yan did not order them to come and apologize, this is an opportunity for you to take the initiative to admit your mistakes. If you don't come, you're just asking for trouble.

Zheng Baiyao stepped forward awkwardly and said, "Minister Wang's car still needs to pick up Vice Minister Chen. Their homes are quite far apart, so carpooling will take some time."

Zhao Hao was speechless. The top two officials of the Ministry of National Defense actually had to carpool; this was simply outrageous.

"Alright, everyone, please go inside!" Zhao Hao didn't give them a hard time. After all, they were all high-ranking military officials. No matter how ignorant Zhao Hao was, he wouldn't kick someone when they were down at a time like this.

The generals had no intention of waiting for Wang Chongshan; they all wanted to hurry inside first. At this point, it was a matter of "better to die than to die," and those who were slow to get there would definitely suffer the most.

It wasn't until more than ten minutes later that Wang Chongshan's car finally arrived, accompanied by Chen Qian. Upon reaching the entrance, they saw a row of cars but no one in sight.

Wang Chongshan immediately understood and cursed, "Damn it! When you're out in the game, not a single one of you has any sense of loyalty!"

Chen Qian grabbed Wang Chongshan: "What time is it? Stop cursing here! Go to the Imperial Study and admit your guilt!"

The two disregarded their image as big shots and took off running, wanting to see if they could catch up with those shameless people who left first.

Chapter 237 In the end, isn't it all about money?

Outside the Imperial Study, when Wang Chongshan and Chen Qian arrived, a group of generals were already standing obediently at the door as punishment.

"Old Wang, Old Chen, come this way, we've saved you seats!"

Lieutenant General Zheng Baiyao made the arrangements, giving up the positions of the top two leaders, which were right at the front, the positions where they would be most severely criticized.

"What's the situation inside?" Wang Chongshan asked.

Zheng Baiyao shrugged and said, "Xiao Qiu from the Security Bureau is getting scolded inside. It'll be our turn later."

Wang Chongshan wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to get closer to the window of the Imperial Study to listen to what was happening inside, but he was immediately driven back by SS soldiers with bayonets.

Wang Chongshan was on the verge of losing his composure when a mere corporal brandished a knife at the Minister of National Defense, but he had no choice but to hold back.

The other generals glared at each other, but in the end they could only suppress their anger. After all, this was not a place where they could act recklessly. The SS and the Wehrmacht were two separate systems.