Chapter 1064: Breaking through the blockade (first update, please subscribe)
“Ahem...”
In the teahouse, coughs were heard one after another, and many of the dining guests had caught a cold.
The waiter who was pushing the cart to deliver the food would cough from time to time. Occasionally, he would twist his nose and wipe the mucus on a towel before continuing to deliver the food and breakfast.
As for runny noses, sneezing, coughing, etc., for people, it is just a cold, and it is not a big deal at all.
"Ahem..."
After coughing into the handkerchief, Li Hongji put it away and said to Jin Liangming in front of him.
"Sorry, I accidentally caught a cold and caught a cold."
"It's okay, it's okay. In recent times, colds are everywhere. When I went from Chuncheng to Suicheng, Everyone in the carriage has a cold.”
Jin Liangming smiled again:
"There is an old doctor in Suicheng who is very good at treating colds and colds. Later I will ask my friends there to grab some medicine and send it over."
"That will leave Boss Jin to worry about it."
Although he called them boss, Li Hongji, who had long been accustomed to dealing with them, knew that their identities were not just businessmen, and the businessmen were just covering up. For them, asking an old doctor to prescribe a medicine is just a matter of effort.
“We are all our own people, why are you so polite? By the way, I read in the newspaper yesterday that Nanyang’s GDP reached an astonishing US$61.7 billion last year, surpassing the United Kingdom by more than US$3 billion, and firmly ranking first in the world. Third, even the steel production has exceeded 23 million tons, which is really not easy!”
Jin Liangming’s tone was slightly flattering. Although last year seemed tense, the business between them was still tense. But it has never stopped. For Tangshan, it is still very willing to export goods to Nanyang. After all, Nanyang has a wide range of demand for Tangshan's goods, not to mention general agricultural products and local specialties, and even apples, pears, hawthorns. Common fruits like these are imported from the mainland in Nanyang. For this purpose, Nanyang has specially developed refrigerated containers. However, since the two countries do not have direct trade relations, trade between the two parties is negotiated on Hong Kong Island.
In recent years, Tangshan has exported agricultural products and local specialties to Nanyang, and imported industrial finished products and machinery and equipment from Nanyang. The business cooperation between the two parties has been harmonious.
"Tangshan is also amazing. I heard that your steel production has exceeded 4 million tons. Such progress is really amazing. When the reactionaries were just defeated, Tangshan was still poor."
< br>"Yes, after all, the real construction is in recent years. After all, we have been fighting in the past few years. How can we have so much energy for construction? This year may exceed 6 million tons! There is another five-year plan. , the steel output will be at least 10 to 20 million tons!"
Jin Liangming's expression was slightly proud. After all, the domestic construction achievements are obvious to all.
“So, in order to achieve this goal, we hope to import some metallurgical equipment from Nanyang, imported oxygen top-blown converter, which has high output and fast production speed. We hope to introduce three 30-ton oxygen top-blown converters. The price of blowing converter and related equipment is negotiable. ”
As the country that invented the oxygen top-blown converter, Nanyang's metallurgical equipment is still extremely advanced. This is a well-known fact. Tangshan, which is committed to developing the metallurgical industry, naturally hopes to import some advanced equipment.
Facing Jin Liangming’s request, Li Hongji thought for a moment and said.
“Boss Jin, you should know that we are a member state of Batumi. According to relevant agreements, metallurgical equipment is regulated equipment. Although export is not prohibited, due to restrictions on quantity control and other aspects, the export of these industries The equipment needs to be approved by Batumi, and given the current situation, it is not likely to be approved.”
“So, I said the price is easy to negotiate.”
Jin Liangming smiled.
In fact, China still likes to do business with Nanyang. Nanyang has a high demand for domestic goods, especially local products. Last year alone, China exported more than 200 million U.S. dollars of goods to Nanyang, and it was absolutely Most of them are tea, local products, etc. The market demand for these local products is not large outside Nanyang, but Nanyang... is different from other countries. They are all Tang people, so they naturally need domestic local products.
Because the trade between the two parties is booming, they will be more generous in their bids.
"This..."
After thinking for a moment, Li Hongji said.
“I need to negotiate with relevant domestic companies. You know, this incident is very troublesome.”
Although he said so, Li Hongji knew very well that the trade principles between Nanyang and Tangshan were very simple - basically there were no principles. Companies would carefully bypass things like Batumi. This was not just because of interests. After all, Nanyang people are almost all first-generation immigrants. They were born and grew up in Tangshan. They have extremely strong feelings for Tangshan. Although there is tension at the official level now, for companies, they do not mind exporting goods to Nanyang. , even for some sensitive controlled goods.
“Because of the trouble, the profit is high.”
Shrugging his shoulders, Li Hongji changed the subject and said.
“By the way, the Borneo Shipping Company is planning to sell the Liberty Ship and the Victory Ship recently. How about it? Are you interested? If you are willing to buy it, not only will the price be favorable, but it can also be used. For a bank loan, Boss Jin’s company can get a loan of at least 5 million pounds. “Since the invention of container ships, shipping companies in Nanyang have gradually eliminated bulk carriers such as free ships, but bulk carriers are still very popular in the international shipping market. Welcome, Tangshan is a good customer.
In Li Hongji's view, they would definitely buy ocean-going ships because Tangshan's shipbuilding industry had a weak foundation. At that time, it took 3-5 years to build a 5,000-ton steamship and cost more than 1 million pounds; on the other hand, because Due to the embargo, they could only purchase and build a small number of ships from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe through barter and other forms. However, their shipbuilding industry was also underdeveloped, so the development of their fleet was slow.
At the same time, Tangshan's annual ocean-going foreign trade materials are 10 million tons and coastal domestic trade materials are 6 million tons. Most of them have to be rented by foreign ships. The annual chartering fee is as high as 15 million pounds, which has become a ridicule. "The mainstay of the international ship chartering market", in addition to chartering port ships, half of them are chartering Japanese ships. Japanese shipping companies, which monopolize the shipping market, have made huge profits by raising freight rates.
The Nanyang people had a consensus on the idea of intercepting Japan, so Li Hongqi took the initiative to export merchant ships to them and was even willing to provide loans.
"This... this business is a bit big, I need to discuss it with my family."
A Liberty Ship is worth hundreds of thousands of pounds!
"Opportunities are rare!"
Li Hongji smiled,
"You must seize the opportunity."
"I know, by the way, speaking of opportunities, There is an opportunity now, it's like this, in China, prepare The 1st Export Commodity Fair will be held in Suicheng in April. I wonder if Boss Li is interested in visiting the venue in person. There are products from various provinces there. I believe you will gain a lot. ”
"Oh? Really?"
Li Hongji said quickly.
"It would be a great honor if I could go there, but, you know, my passport is..."
"No problem, I will apply for it for Boss Li when the time comes. Pass, Boss Li and his party can enter the customs with the pass.”
For the two people talking about business, they did not seem to be affected by the cold, although Boss Jin also used it when leaving. He wiped his nose with a handkerchief, but that was all.
……
Diseases sometimes spread faster than expected. Just after the first month of the year, new influenza patients appeared in Nanyang. In just a few weeks, tens of thousands of people were infected. This naturally attracted the attention of the Department of Health. The epidemic prevention department of the Department of Health immediately started relevant work.
Soon, in early March, the Director of the Department of Health, Cheng Changying, showed up in the study of the official residence with the first investigation report.
"According to the analysis of clues obtained so far, the virus first originated in western Guizhou, Tangshan. In mid-February, researchers in Tangshan and Guiyang isolated the virus as H2N2, locally known as type A2. In the same month, it spread across the country and was It became popular on Hong Kong Island, and later spread to Singapore and Southeast Asia. There are now related cases in Japan, the United Kingdom and other places."
Looking at the investigation report provided by the Department of Health, Li Yi'an frowned. A ball.
He did not know that this pandemic, known as the "Asian Flu", would kill 1 million to 4 million people worldwide in the next year. After the H2N2 virus appeared, the H1N1 virus disappeared from the population.
"...the symptoms of patients are generally shaky legs, chills, sore throat, runny nose and cough; accompanied by sore limbs (adults), headache (children) and high fever, some children will have nosebleeds. These symptoms Most are mild. With simple measures to reduce fever, patients usually recover after a period of time in bed. Complications occur in 3% of patients, with a mortality rate of 0.3%. ”
In. When introducing cold symptoms, Cheng Changying emphasized again.
“Judging from the current tracking, because Nanyang is located in the tropics, the spread of the H2N2 virus in Nanyang is subject to certain restrictions. However, because Nanyang has convenient air transportation with other countries, it is spreading to China at a speed beyond our imagination. According to information provided by the United States, related diseases have appeared in various countries around the world.”
This is exactly the change brought about by the changes in transportation - before this, it only took one or two people to spread an epidemic. Months' time, and now? It will only take a few short weeks to spread around the world.
“Is there anything we can do now to stop its spread?”
Although Li Yian was an amateur when it came to influenza, he still knew about the vaccine, so he asked.
“Can we start the development of a vaccine?”
Listening to your inquiry, Cheng Changying explained.
“Experts from the Target Department of Health are cooperating with the Army Institute of Disease Research and pharmaceutical companies such as Jianmin. Among them, Jianmin has been engaged in research in this area earlier. They have already started research in this area half a month ago. Investigators were sent to Hong Kong Island to collect relevant information. Dr. Tang Feifei from his laboratory had isolated a strain of the H2N2 virus. They then handed over the virus to three pharmaceutical companies and the Army Institute of Disease Research for use in Develop a vaccine."
Cheng Changying's answer made Li Yian nodded and said.
"This is good. A vaccine must be developed as soon as possible and used to protect our people!"
(End of Chapter)