On August 18, the Tsarist Russian army used one division to besiege Qiqihar, and two divisions moved south to cooperate with the ongoing negotiations.

On August 20, Beiyang deployed a heavy force of 4 divisions on the first line of Fengjing, completely abandoning the north of Fengtian.

Yuan Datou was full of fear of Tsarist Russia, so he gathered two-thirds of the main force in Fengtian, and all the troops fighting the Japanese on the corridor front were withdrawn, so that the bunkers built in Beiyang for several years were directly abandoned.

In fact, Yuan Datou was also hesitating between withdrawing his troops and blocking them. After all, as long as the bunker group was defended, Japan and Russia could not form a joint force. If Japan wanted to break through the bunker group, it would take at least 3 months and three times the investment - that is, 3 divisions.

above military strength.

However, the pressure on the Beiyang garrison division would be great, and the outcome might not be good. After thinking about it, the old witch was afraid of Tsarist Russia, and her view of Japan was still that of a small country, so she ordered Yuan Datou to withdraw his troops and save Fengjing, the Manchu capital.

"The land of Longxing must be preserved, and the Qing Dynasty still needs to meet." The old witch does not understand strategy and tactics, and can only talk to herself based on her status.

However, there is still something to be said for Yuan Shikai's military training. As long as the soldiers in Beiyang are veterans, more than half of them have their guns aimed at the enemy when they are on the battlefield, at least in the direction of the enemy.

In this era, it had surpassed the cattle army of Tsarist Russia and the soldiers of Britain, France and other countries.

In this era, soldiers did not have psychological counseling and psychological suggestions. Those who could shoot at another soldier without any scruples were veterans who had experienced many battles.

Or Germany, Japan, etc.—Nanhua is among them.

Germany is a Prussian Junker military aristocracy, and its soldiers are trained from childhood and are well prepared (not mobilised.)

It is well known in Japan that the Bushido spirit, although it has not been developed to its extreme at this time, is similar in that it is annihilating human nature.

Nanhua follows a military-civilian system. Whether it is the construction corps or the militia reserve, it can be generally summarized as Boy Scouts - militia and reserve - soldiers. Combat education from childhood to adulthood is systematic, and combat effectiveness can be guaranteed.

There is another country with the same system, but with an extremely low profile - the United States.

During World War 1, British recruits simply could not look the enemy in the face and were unable to pull the trigger after targeting the enemy for a long time.

In World War 1, most of the casualties were caused by weapons such as machine guns, artillery, or bombs and poison gas. Casualties caused by rifles accounted for less than 10% of the total casualties.

The Beiyang Army was just not tough enough, but during Yuan Datou's time, its combat effectiveness was still considerable.

Because the old witch showed a compromising attitude, disagreements arose in the court, and voices emerged demanding that the young emperor return to power and fight a decisive battle with Japan and Russia.

The old witch hurriedly sent a telegram to Yuan Da, asking for a tight hold to delay the situation, while the main war faction began to be dealt with internally.

On August 30, Japan and Russia gathered 60,000 troops and launched an attack on the Fengtian 1st Line.

The four artillery regiments of Beiyang and the Fengtian garrison, with a total of more than 200 artillery supports, suffered defeat under the Japanese and Russian attacks, and the war suddenly came to a stalemate.

Russia doesn't care, they are well prepared, and they do need time to digest the territory they occupied. Japan is a little anxious, but luckily, the United States is giving it blood transfusions through the 6-plane route, and it is still waiting for the end of the United States.

The United States was very unhappy. After the war started, the United States not only lost its trade with China, but its entire trade with the East was limited to Japan through the six northern routes, and the Japanese only needed war resources.

Originally, the United States wanted to force Nanhua to relax trade restrictions through the tariff issue. As soon as the tariff issue came out, some of Nanhua's products were indeed unsaleable, but a new market appeared in front of Nanhua.

Because of the war, the Qing Empire's market share belonging to Japan, Russia and the United States suddenly became vacant, and Nanhua found a new growth point.

…………

"Excuse me, may I ask, where is the Qingshan Machinery Factory?" Sheng Jicai, the second son of the Sheng family's side house, although not taken seriously, but after the Sheng family embraced Yuan Datou's golden thigh, they relied on the Sheng family's golden brand name to make a fortune.

I got a job from the Steamship Merchants Company.

The Steamship Merchants Bureau is not only engaged in passenger transportation and freight transportation, but also directly responsible for the import and export of machinery and equipment in the manufacturing industry of the Qing Empire. The procurement status is not high, but it is a good job.

At first, China Merchants mainly imported British and French equipment. After the Sino-French War, it mainly imported British equipment. Later, Mr. Li became obsessed with German weapons, and German equipment became more affordable and high-quality, so the focus shifted to the Germans.

After the Germans occupied Jiaozhou Bay, the Qing Empire had to rent the next door to the British to balance the attack-conscious Germans. The China Merchants Group gradually shifted its procurement focus to the United States and Japan.

Buying heavy manufacturing equipment in the United States and light manufacturing equipment in Japan are both more than 30% cheaper than the market prices of British, French and German machines.

The ones in Nanhua are not expensive either, but official sales are prohibited by the old witch. They are all private transactions, and the China Merchants Bureau does not participate.

After the war started, the Qing Empire canceled its order to Japan, and the United States could not deliver goods. In desperation, China Merchants Group began to look for new sources of goods.

China Merchants Group claims to buy German goods, but privately, all officials hope to buy goods from Nanhua, because Nanhua can issue invoices in German and get 30% of the profit out of thin air - a rebate that Germany cannot afford.

So Sheng Jicai took a ship and hurried to Surabaya to look for and purchase various machines, but got lost.

"Qingshan Machinery Factory?" A passerby riding a bicycle looked at his companion with a confused expression, "Have you heard of Qingshan Machinery Factory?"

"Qingshan Machinery Factory? Sounds a bit familiar... Let me think about it." Companion A scratched his head.

"Look at your braids, are you from Daqing? Why are you going to Qingshan Machinery Factory?" A passerby saw his companion thinking and chatting boredly.

"Um..." Sheng Jicai smiled sheepishly, "I heard that Qingshan Machinery Factory sells equipment and provides free technical staff to guide installation. Hanyang Factory just gets their help. I have a business and want to buy some equipment."

"Oh! Didn't 2 Steel Plant move, leaving the operation workshop and changing its name? It seems to be called Qingshan Machinery Factory. I heard that 1 Steel and 2 Steel cooperated to complete the transformation of the Hanyang plant and sold several production lines.

"When companion A heard about Hanyang Factory, he clapped his hands and said.

"No. 2 Steel Plant...are you sure? Don't point people to the wrong way." The passerby hesitated.

"It's him, it's him, he has renovated the Hanyang factory." Sheng Jicai handed over two Shell cigarettes, Volkswagen Tobacco. Logically speaking, they were not smoked by people of Sheng Jicai's level.

"Well, you sit in my back seat, and I'll drop by the 2nd Steel Factory. I'll take you there. If you weren't asking the guards over there, they would definitely know." A passerby took the cigarette and greeted Sheng Jicai.

"Hey! That won't bother you..." Sheng Jicai said with a smile on his face.

"If there's any trouble, I'm on my way. Come up quickly and wait until the servants get off work." Passers-by urged.

"Then... Excuse me, this Nanhua is different, the people are so warm-hearted." Sheng Jicai praised.

Although Sheng Jicai was born in the Sheng family, it was only a branch of the family. He was the second son. His father was a poor boy who only knew how to study. His family had difficulties since childhood.

Sheng Jicai was taught to study by his eldest brother. Later, his eldest brother also went to work as a clerk in the Shengjia store, so he stopped studying and became an apprentice in the Shengjia store.

For the sake of his Sheng family, the Sheng family gave him 100 cents per month. At this time, the price of rice was 2 taels per stone and 17 cents per catty. This little money was only enough to buy 6 catties of rice and ten catties of brown rice.

Don't underestimate me, this is good. Most of the apprentices have no money. They do the hardest work, receive the most severe beatings, and have to be a shameless licking dog. Only when the licking master feels comfortable can he learn something.

.

However, her mother has been sick all year round, and even though the medicinal herbs are available in the family, it costs money to nurse her back to health, so Sheng Jicai has developed a frugal and even stingy character - but mainly for herself.

Even though he later became a shopkeeper, a purchaser, and became rich, his character remained unchanged. He was not stingy to others, but extremely stingy to himself.

"Here we are, right here. It's really been renamed Qingshan Machinery Factory." A passerby said in surprise.

"I'm just telling you, if you still don't believe me, I'll see you later, brother." Companion A cupped his hand.

Sheng Jicai quickly bowed his hands, smoked again, and then said a few polite words before sending the person away.

…

"I'm purchasing from the Steamship Merchants Bureau, Sheng Jicai. I've heard the name of Director Zheng for a long time. I saw you today, and sure enough..." Sheng Jicai bowed to Zheng Delin, the director of the machine factory.

"Mr. Shanda, I have admired you for a long time. Please stop saying these things. We know what we are like. We are just rough people, but we are not as eloquent as you." Zheng Delin waved his hand.

"I heard that the Steamship Investment Promotion Bureau has taken orders from the Machinery Bureau of three provinces, and it also needs to replace equipment and purchase ships. What is the purpose of Shanda's people coming here this time?" Zheng Delin asked bluntly.

On the 20th, Nanhua realized that an opportunity had come after receiving the first order for textile machines. The Ministry of Commerce cooperated with the Audit Section to collect a lot of Qing Empire's demand orders and sent them to various factories.

Zheng Delin 1 heard about the Steamship Merchants Bureau, directly found the information about the Steamship Merchants Bureau, and found out Sheng Jicai's needs clearly.

"Uh..." Sheng Jicai was a little uncertain.

"Don't get me wrong, there have been a lot of people coming here recently, and we have to do some preparation work. I don't know which machines you want. This is the quotation. The ones that are checked in the back are in stock. If they are not in stock, you have to wait." Zheng Delin said straightforwardly.

Take out the list.

In just ten days, more than 20 groups of people have come from the Qing Empire. Except for Nan Beiyang, who was hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, everyone else was casual. With the reputation of transforming the Hanyang factory, many people came to the Qingshan Machinery Factory. Zheng Delin

Already prepared.

"So...how much does this cost? It also has a complete set of steel-making equipment. I wonder if it can be cheaper..." Sheng Jicai was still not used to getting things done without having to treat guests to dinner or give gifts.

"What I offer is the lowest price. To put it bluntly, if you break your bones and connect your tendons, I won't cheat you." Zheng Delin denied the possibility of price reduction.

After some dealings, Sheng Jicai placed an order for more than 1 million taels of silver and then rubbed his hands.

"I wonder if you have a way to buy a boat? Don't worry, I understand the rules."

"I'll give you a call to ask. The shipyard has been slow recently and big ships have to wait." Zheng Delin said happily.
Chapter completed!