Chapter 494 Death

Chapter 494 Death

Chapter 494 Death
The Wimbledon Tennis Open was first held in 1877. Now it is 1880 and the fourth season has begun.

Sending people to the UK to participate in the competition is not a problem. The problem is, how did such a small report get to Marshal Shao's desk?
Marshal Shao had to deal with major events every day, such as the Kazakh Khanate's submission, Türkiye's vassalage, and the joint intervention of Britain and the United States in France's occupation of the Ruhr area.

You need my approval to participate in the game? What is Shao Dashuai doing?

"Yuting, this report was sent by Madam Hui'er. There is currently no women's singles event at Wimbledon. Dongmei wants to participate, so we need to communicate with the organizing committee to set up a women's event."

"But we don't have a corresponding sports organization in Daxia to contact them, so -"

I understand. We need to establish a new institution to manage sports affairs. It turns out that this matter has always been promoted by Rong Hui in a private capacity. Now we need to set up a formal official institution.

Shao Quanzhong pondered for a moment and said, "Let Zhang Zhidong submit a proposal and ask those elders who drink tea and read newspapers in the Senate to approve it and establish a government sports organization in Daxia."

Um, so the elders still have something to do...

"Ring ring ring!"

Liu Niang picked up the phone and listened for a few words, "Yuting, it's Evan calling."

Evan's claim to be "Marshal Shao's old friend" is not entirely self-boasting, he can really call Shao directly.

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty. It is so wonderful to hear your voice again. It feels like a lifetime ago."

"First of all, congratulations on your ascension to the throne. It is thanks to my relationship with Your Majesty that I was able to save my life."

"You don't know, but as soon as Waldersee came to power in Germany, he set his sights on businessmen like us. Almost all of my people were arrested, and the company was nationalized."

Well, Waldersee did the same thing as Wenxiang did.

Wenxiang offended the rich, and the rich paid money to support the Pao brothers in their rebellion, and Wenxiang was in trouble. But when Waldersee offended the rich, the common people stood with him, and nothing happened.

Different environments lead to different results.

"Waldersee confiscated the property of my fellow merchants and gave bread and milk to the people. Now his reputation in Germany is at its peak."

"Most of my fellow merchants have fled to the Federation. If there are any who want to go to Daxia, will you accept them?"

Shao Quanzhong shook his head repeatedly, "No, I don't lack people who can do business. What Daxia lacks are scientists, technicians, craftsmen, construction workers, and other people who can do practical work."

Shao Quanzhong flatly refused the vampires from entering Daxia, thinking that Evan would be unhappy about it, but he didn't expect Evan's voice to be full of excitement.

"Great! I was embarrassed to tell you that I wanted to persuade you not to accept them. Now, if Waldersee wants to do business with Daxia, he can only go through me."

"I request to be the general agent of Daxia products in Germany. With you as my backer, I will definitely make money. Don't worry, you can send someone to monitor me. Merchants have no motherland. I will definitely give priority to the interests of Daxia."

Well, Evan is really a pure businessman. He sacrificed his own people without hesitation.

Shao Quanzhong thought about it and said, "Well, it's fine for you to be Wen's agent, but if you dare to cheat me of my money——"

"Don't worry, I absolutely wouldn't dare to do that. Brothers Alfonso and Gustav are both finished. The chaebols can't defeat the warlords. I'm not a chaebol yet. I got rich thanks to you, Your Majesty. If I dare to take even one mark from you, you'll make my head go off immediately. I understand."

"Just be aware of this. Does Germany still have money to buy Daxia products?"

"You don't know that Waldersee made a lot of money from the nationalization of my fellow merchants' businesses, but this matter must be kept secret."

"Waldersee does not intend to use this money to pay reparations. He plans to use work-for-relief to ensure that the people continue to have enough food to eat. Germany is ambitiously preparing to restart its military industry plan, so if you have new weapons, feel free to sell them to Germany. I will definitely negotiate a good price for you with Waldersee."

"As for war reparations, Waldersee plans to borrow money from the Americans to develop civilian industries, paying back part of it and refusing to pay back the rest. France's occupation of the Ruhr area is useless. Now that they can't get the money, they've wasted military expenses. They can't hold on any longer. You can come forward and give Alfonso a way out."

It seems that Evan relied on his relationship with Shao Quanzhong to climb up to the high position of Waldersee. When all the merchants of the same clan were ruined, he had to make money to get promoted. His business acumen was not in vain.

"We can't discuss this over the phone. Just wait. I'll send someone from the Wen family to contact you right away. They'll be in Berlin in half a month."

After hanging up the phone, Shao Quanzhong ordered, "Sixth Lady, ask Daxia Power to send someone to contact Evan to help Germany achieve electrification."

"At the same time, let Wen's Mining secretly contact Waldersee through Evan, sell them tungsten alloy technology, export some tungsten to Germany, and make all the money they confiscate the merchants' property for me." Uh, if you don't make money, you're a bastard. Isn't Germany's money money? Cooperation and mutual benefit can continue to make the pockets of the people of Daxia fatter.

"Let Sven and Zhang Zhidong study the matter of the vassal state agreeing with Türkiye's joining the vassal state. We will agree to it only if it is cost-effective for us."

"These vassal states and Türkiye are really naughty. They want to join us because they think we can make money. We can't just accept them because they apply. We shouldn't do something that loses money but only makes a lot of money."

"If we receive mutual benefits, then let Zhang Zhidong and the Sven brothers apply to the Senate for approval of this matter."

"Let Foreign Minister Wu Ziyi contact the British and American officials regarding their intervention in France's occupation of the Ruhr area. I won't have to intervene in matters that don't involve fighting a war."

After explaining the important matters, Shao Quanzhong picked up the teacup handed to him by Liu Niang, took a sip of red tea, and picked up the newspaper on the desk.

He had just criticized the people in the Senate for drinking tea and reading newspapers every day instead of doing their work, and he himself started reading the newspapers.

He was reading the Chinese edition of the Los Angeles Times. His old friend Mark Twain was now the second owner of this newspaper, and the newspaper was doing very well. Shao Quanzhong still read it often.

"Huh? The headline on the front page is 'Joshua Norton, the Emperor of the Federation and the Regent of Mexico, has passed away.'"

Um, does the Federation have an emperor? Yes, it does.

On September 1859, 9, Joshua Abraham Norton placed an advertisement in a San Francisco newspaper, proclaiming himself emperor and calling himself "Norton I."

This is basically a gimmick by a bankrupt businessman and no one takes it seriously.

Norton went bankrupt in business and lost all his money. He used the remaining money to place this advertisement, then put on a mighty emperor's uniform and went to various businesses to beg for food.

Of course he claimed to be "inspecting".

Someone came up with this gimmick, and the common people of the Federation were overjoyed and treated him as a living treasure. Some people actually knelt and saluted when they met this "emperor" on the street, just to join in the fun.

This is basically a beggar who relies on playing the emperor and going to various shopping malls to get free food and drink.

The owner of a restaurant seized the opportunity of the citizens' curiosity and announced that the "emperor" had the privilege of eating for free in the restaurant.

The restaurant therefore hung up a sign that read “Restaurant Designated by the Federal Emperor,” and its business became extremely popular.

From then on, whenever there was a big celebration, the merchants in San Francisco would invite this "emperor" to give a speech as a guest, which was very lively.

Norton I also issued his own banknotes. He was not greedy. The face values ​​of the banknotes ranged from five cents to fifty dollars. When he took them out to buy things, the merchants all accepted them.

The rent of the apartment rented by "His Majesty the Emperor" was paid by the relief department, and he, the "Emperor", actually stayed there forever, had no worries about food and drink, and lived a good life.

Shao Quanzhong actually has time to read such boring business news. It seems that nothing big is going to happen recently.

Behind Shao Quanzhong, Liu Niang raised her lips, thinking that with the death of Norton I, the Federation had lost such a clown, and the common people had lost a lot of fun, which was a pity...

"Sixth Lady, send a telegram of condolence to San Francisco in my name, and have our consul in San Francisco deliver it to the funeral of His Majesty Norton I."

Hu Liuniang's eyes widened and her mouth opened wide, "Yuting, don't you know this is a clown? Not the real emperor."

Shao Quanzhong shook his head, "You don't understand, this is a real emperor, I respect him very much."

"Whether a person is a true emperor does not depend on how much power he has, but on whether he puts the people in his heart, and he has done this."

"I'm sure his funeral will be very grand and my condolence message will not be a laughing stock."

"Really?"

"I am sure of that. The people will never forget those who have done meritorious services for them."

(End of this chapter)