In 1885, the Austro-Hungarian Empire was still a coastal country. After seeing the French and Italian newspapers describing the China fleet's provocative voyage west of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Austro-Hungarian Empire immediately invited the China fleet to visit the Austro-Hungarian port on the Mediterranean coast.
"Your Excellency, do you like cruise ships?" China's ambassador to the Austro-Hungarian Empire asked.
"Are you referring to private yachts?" The Austro-Hungarian foreign minister answered the China ambassador's question according to his own understanding.
"Not private, but large cruise ships that can accommodate thousands of people." The China ambassador clearly stated the cruise ships he was referring to. "If you are interested, I would like to invite you to take a China cruise ship to enjoy the beautiful scenery in the Mediterranean."
China didn't just send warships to Europe. Four beautiful large cruise ships followed closely behind. China's diplomats took advantage of the commotion caused by the Chinese warships in Europe and began to invite representatives from major European financial groups and banks. Compared to these financial figures, the number of diplomats and military personnel who were invited was small.
Representatives from England, France, Germany, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Italy, Osman, Norway, and Sweden, these major European industrial countries brought their families to attend this event.
The servants and family members were scattered on the four ships. The main characters were gathered in the conference room of a 25,000-ton cruise ship. The public speaker was the governor of China's central bank, Wang Mingshan.
"Greetings, ladies and gentlemen. I believe that you are more concerned about the China fleet. From my perspective as the governor of the central bank, I don't think so. No matter how powerful a warship is, it costs money. But all of you here are experts at making money. I can say without exaggeration that a large part of the cost of building warships comes from the taxes you pay to the country. It can be said that without you, there would be no European warships. I believe that all of you here have the same confidence. "
Wang Mingshan's words elicited laughter from the tycoons and dignitaries. It was a proud laughter. Some who couldn't keep their cool even started to applaud.
Seeing that these capitalists were gradually agreeing with Wang Mingshan's stance, Wang Mingshan continued, "There must be people who are suspicious of the purpose of our warships. Was he trying to mess up the situation in Europe? Or worse yet, trying to threaten certain countries. I think that in the following narration, I will let everyone better understand the meaning of the existence of the Chinese Navy. However, let me set the tone first. The Chinese Navy has always been a protector, not a destroyer. "
"Ladies and gentlemen. Everyone should be very clear about one thing, in the current era where everyone uses a large number of securities and bank services, all kinds of fees are a huge waste. But it wasn't a waste that had to be taken. Please allow me to give my personal explanation. If the experts here want to refute it, then please wait for me to finish. "Wang Mingshan deviated from the military topic and went straight to the purpose of his trip.
"The risk of the bank is that there is a huge cost of time and verification in the middle of checks and remittances …" Wang Mingshan began to lecture.
In this era, long-distance banking transactions were either to carry money orders and checks and run to a different place to withdraw. This was a business that only big banks could undertake because there was not only the problem of whether the bank in a different place had enough cash, but there were also many verification problems. There were too many examples in Europe. Bank A issued the checks they were responsible for, and Bank B paid the money according to these checks. When Bank B took these checks to Bank A to cash, Bank A had already closed down. Or maybe the tickets were fake.
In the current era, cable telegrams were popular in major countries. However, cable telegrams had poor confidentiality and serious lag problems. All of these made the long-distance banking business bear huge risks, and high fees were inevitable.
"… Ladies and gentlemen, when you have wireless telegrams, communication across Europe becomes very easy. When your checks are written, when your customers are traveling by rail, ship, car, or even horse, your message has already reached the headquarters of the banks that have to undertake the remittance. When your checks and promissory notes are thousands of miles away, or even exchanged in Asia and America, I can assure you that before the cushions under the buttocks of those customers thousands of miles away have warmed up, your messages have already crossed thousands of rivers and mountains and been communicated in an extremely short period of time. For those honest and trustworthy customers, their interests can be guaranteed the most. They can enjoy the best service. For those black sheep with ulterior motives, the wireless telegram was like a demon-revealing mirror, revealing their true colors and exposing their crafty plots. To do all of this, there is no need for transportation, thousands of telegraph lines, thousands of people working on the telegraph lines, and no need to pay them wages. Two people, two wireless telegrams are enough. Seven days a week, 24 hours a day, reporting at any time, responding at any time. "
Everyone present was knowledgeable. Wang Mingshan's boasting really shocked this group of people. Communication technology determined a lot of behavior. If fast and accurate communication could be carried out thousands of miles away, the entire business activity would be strengthened to an unprecedented degree. Everyone stared at Wang Mingshan. If gazes could conduct the surging heat in the heart, Wang Mingshan would probably instantly burn into a human torch under the high temperature.
Wang Mingshan had a calm smile on his face. He faced the group of people and continued, "In the next week and longer, these ships will not only let everyone enjoy the scenery of the Mediterranean Sea, but also the beautiful scenery of the African and European coastlines. The radio equipment on these ships will also allow everyone to fully experiment and experience the feasibility and reliability of radio. We will talk about the future later. Now we look forward to everyone being able to experience more of this technology that will change human life. "
For the next week, the cruise ship sailed in full enjoyment. It was also during this week that the telegram team in the hall had to work four shifts a day. Between the ships and the stations on the ground, news, witty remarks, and all kinds of test wireless telegrams containing belief and disbelief came one after another.
Among the bankers of various countries, the first to deal with China were British bankers. For this group of people, the impact of the Chinese's actions was also the greatest. The effect of wireless telegrams on the financial industry did not need Wang Mingshan's explanation. Hundreds of years of financial history had accumulated countless problems, and the emergence of wireless telegrams could solve a lot of them. The function of wireless telegrams was not limited to that. In addition to solving problems, it could also realize the hopes that many generations of bankers had dreamed of but had to give up in the face of reality.
The British bankers held their own meeting, and the directors of the London Stock Exchange were the leaders. He calmly glanced around at the very serious participants. Many of these participants had bitterly ridiculed the financial cooperation plan that China's foreign minister, Wang Mingshan, had proposed. The appearance of Wireless made them understand how conservative Wang Mingshan's plan was.
The directors of the London Stock Exchange asked, "Gentlemen, how much do you remember about the terms that were discussed with the foreign minister of China?"
That meeting did not produce any results. There was only more and more disputes. Therefore, everyone remembered more of the content that they were concerned about, and the scattered content was quickly summarized.
"In the Asian pound offshore center, if information can be accurately and quickly transmitted, this can be achieved."
"Renminbi can also be achieved in Europe …"
"The two sides can also mutually set up bonds and stock transactions …"
As long as there was fast communication technology, many layers of black curtains that once shrouded business activities would be uncovered, and the risks encountered by business operations would be greatly reduced. Many actions that seemed ridiculous at first had now become investments that could completely bear the risk, and even high-quality investments that could yield great profits.
It was not only the British financial industry that held the meeting. Financiers from various countries and groups held their own meetings. The French banking group was the most emotional. "Now those Russians can no longer easily deceive us!" The chairman of the Banque de Marseilles pointed at the table and said word by word with a vicious and joyful smile.
There were infinite business opportunities in the vast territory of Russia, and the Russians' ancient business credibility turned infinite business opportunities into infinite business opportunities and traps. Radio couldn't destroy traps, but it could pierce them with the highest efficiency.
"If we had radio, we wouldn't have had so many people die in Russia!" The vice president of BNP Paribas said. The Russians' business practices were simple and straightforward. When a scam was exposed, many people who could expose the scam would disappear without a trace. Although human life was a completely renewable resource and tool in the eyes of capitalists, repeatedly sending people would reduce efficiency. Efficiency was more precious to the financial industry than the diamond powder flowing in the hourglass.
The proportion of military personnel in the meeting was the lowest, and the personnel of the various ministries were the most cohesive group. Bankers could also fully collude with foreign bankers based on their own business cooperation. Military personnel must be limited to their own country.
The representative of the British Navy was a major general. This gentleman was assigned by the fleet commander to order the reporters to shut up. Because the work was carried out very well, the British newspapers reported on the Chinese Navy's actions after their counterparts in France and Italy. During this period, the reporters dug deep into the information of the major general, who threatened the reporters. The major general's embarrassing stories from a young age, as well as his family's things that could be used to attack him, were all published in the newspapers.
Therefore, the major general's face was filled with inner displeasure, and the question he asked was also quite hesitant. "Will China really provide radio technology to Europe?"
The British Lord of the Admiralty once issued a death order to get radio technology at all costs. Now it seemed that they only needed to wait, and the technology would probably fall from the sky like a ripe apple. It was like an undeserved disaster that fell on the major general's head.
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