Amid the laughter of the crowd, the businessman sat down awkwardly. He was not intentionally making trouble, but he was really excited about these projects, but he was afraid that the risks were too great, so he wanted to ask clearly.

At this time, another businessman stood up and said, "Mr. Wang, we do not doubt that you are dealing with the rule of Tianjin, but you are in a state of war with all countries. This is always true. In such a situation, is it not appropriate for you to post this tender announcement? Can you explain how you will deal with the hostile relations with all countries?"

Wang Yunpeng was prepared for this question and laughed: "This gentleman asked his question very well, and I believe that everyone present should have similar questions. I remember there is a proverb in Europe that says God belongs to God and Caesar belongs to Caesar. So let us deal with war and business separately."

Everyone present suddenly had another discussion, "God belongs to God, Caesar belongs to Caesar" originally meant the relationship between religious power and secular power. It was later cited as a European proverb, which generally refers to dealing with matters of different natures separately and not to be confused. Wang Yunpeng quoted this proverb, which shows that he is very familiar with European habits and is also very appropriate.

Wang Yunpeng said again: "Actually, we don't mind doing business with you while fighting, because there will always be an end to the war. As long as everyone cooperates happily, they can continue to cooperate for a long time. What's the purpose of the war? Isn't it just to do business better?"

The merchants present agreed with the saying "The purpose of the war is for business". In a sense, this sentence is not wrong. European countries are all based on business, so it is common to launch a battlefield for trade. Just like the Opium War that opened the door of China, it simply means using force to force China to sell British industrial products to China and obtain cheap resources from China. The "black ship incident" that occurred in Japan is essentially the same. Of course, even if the result of the war is that the British won, it is natural to enjoy some preferential benefits when doing business, so that there are unequal treaties to pay compensation, cede land, and reduce tariffs.

Businessmen are concerned about economic interests, while consuls from various countries have much more sensitive sense of smell. They heard another meaning from Wang Yunpeng's speech. This group of overseas Chinese seem to send a signal that they are not willing to fight with various countries and want to establish long-term economic cooperation relations with various countries. This is obviously a positive signal.

Moreover, judging from the three projects that overseas Chinese bidding this time, it can indeed bring huge and long-term economic benefits to the winning countries and enterprises. Although salvage of shipwrecks is a short-term behavior, purchasing machinery and equipment requires personnel training, equipment maintenance, replacement of accessories, regular overhauls, and subsequent upgrades, which are definitely long-term benefits, and shipyards are not required. They are a long-term project itself, and may last more than ten years.

Of course, the premise is that this group of overseas Chinese will exist for a long time in Tianjin, and at the same time, it will gradually stop war with other countries. The first item is not difficult to achieve with the strength of this group of overseas Chinese, and the next item is also sent out a positive signal, so only various countries can respond.

The information from consuls of various countries is naturally more informed and knowing that the possibility of stopping the war is increasing. Because the negotiations between countries on the handling of China's issues are not going smoothly. In the previous stage, the Eight-Nation Alliance suffered a series of failures, and many domestic reactions have occurred. In countries like Britain, France, and the United States, which have established a democratic electoral system, opposition parties seized this opportunity to attack the ruling party's rash behavior of launching wars, and the calls for anti-war among the people are gradually rising.

Among all countries, Russia is still the most firm advocated to continue the war. Russian Tsar Nicholas II said that he would send 100,000 more troops to the Chinese battlefield within one month and must defeat overseas Chinese. Even if other countries do not send troops, Russia will carry out the battle to the end.

Germany and Japan also hope to continue the war, but these two countries are now incompetent. The German fleet's defeat made German Emperor William II feel sorry for him, and at the same time they were still scared. Without the support of other countries, they did not dare to rashly invest more troops to the Chinese battlefield. The Japanese still had the strength, but on the one hand, the German fleet's defeat also made Japan more alert. After all, Japan's naval power may not be stronger than the German fleet, and Japan's national strength is weak, so it is not easy to accumulate these warships, and it cannot be destroyed in China. In addition, Japan is also full of vigilance against Russia, knowing that the Russians are drunk, not to drink, but to attack overseas Chinese on the surface, but in fact they want to take the opportunity to invade China's Northeast region, which is in fact involved in the Korean Peninsula. Therefore, Japan insists that all countries must form a coalition force and that a certain country cannot act alone.

The attitudes of Britain and France are quite indifferent. Although they also hope to continue to fight, they each have their own difficulties. Now Britain is deeply trapped in the Boer War in South Africa and it is impossible to launch another large-scale military operation. France's main energy is to defend Germany from Europe. Neither of the two countries can invest too much power in the Chinese battlefield. However, both countries also understand that under the current situation, negotiations with overseas Chinese are easy to occupy much. It is best to expand the various teams, but not engage in large-scale wars. As long as it puts considerable pressure on overseas Chinese to gain greater benefits at the negotiating table. However, the two countries also understand that once the army is expanded, the war will not be controlled by the two countries. At least the polar bear is definitely not a winner, so the two countries are in a dilemma now.

Only the United States clearly expressed its hope to negotiate with overseas Chinese and strive to end the war as soon as possible. Because the United States advocates a policy of opening up the door and sharing interests with equal interests, their interests in China are not based on traditional colonies or spheres of influence, but on the power of other countries, as well as the strong economic and manufacturing strength of the United States. Now the United States does not even have a concession in Tianjin, so overseas Chinese occupying Tianjin will cause almost no substantial losses to the United States. On the contrary, if the war continues, the interests of the United States will be damaged.

As for Italy, the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal and other countries that later joined were all so-called roles. They had little interests in China, so they naturally did not want to invest more. When China was weak and could be bullied, they might as well follow several old empires to get a share of the pie; but when they found that they were kicked on the steel plate, they immediately stepped back. However, these countries also knew that no one listened to them, so they did not express their opinions, but from their hearts, they also hoped to negotiate with overseas Chinese as soon as possible to end the war.

As a result, although the telegrams shuttled and moved between countries like snowflakes, the countries were talking and quarreling endlessly, but they never reached an agreement.

The consuls of various countries are naturally aware of this situation, so they are less and less hopeful about a resolution by force. Now that overseas Chinese have sent out a signal of reconciliation, the consuls of various countries will naturally not miss this opportunity. The British Consul in Tianjin, Jin Zhang, immediately said: "Mr. Wang, do you mean that your side hopes to peacefully resolve the state of war with other countries!"

In fact, Wang Yunpeng was waiting for this sentence. The British Empire is indeed a veteran imperialism, and its reaction is more sensitive than others. He smiled and said, "Sir, I can only be possible for your problem."

Jin Zhang felt thoughtful when he heard this, but the other consuls were confused for a moment. What exactly did Wang Yunpeng mean? Therefore, the German Consul in Tianjin, Qin Moman, said: "Mr. Wang, can you make things clearer? Are you willing to negotiate with other countries?"

Wang Yunpeng was scolding this group of foreigners in his heart, and it was too late to realize that in the old time and space, China's spokespersons had always been ambiguous words, but the quality of foreigners in the old time and space was much higher, and they could only illustrate China's true attitude from ambiguous words. But they had to give a further explanation, saying: "We Chinese have always loved peace and opposed war. But peace requires the joint efforts of both sides to achieve. It is impossible to have real peace by relying on the separate efforts of one side. Our attitude is very clear. If other countries also hope to resolve the problem peacefully, then please express some sincerity in all matters."

At this point, if there are still people who don’t understand it, they are fools. The attitude of overseas Chinese has been very clear. They are obviously willing to negotiate with various countries, but they need to show sincerity to negotiate first. Of course, the practices of overseas Chinese are understandable. After all, they are the victorious party now, and there is no reason to take the initiative to negotiate first.

However, the consuls present also wrote down this in their hearts and planned to rush back to the consulate immediately after the bidding press conference was concluded and send the new news back to the country.

Seeing that his goal had already reached, Wang Yunpeng said again: "Okay, gentlemen, we have already gotten off topic just now. Now let's get back to the topic. Let's go back to the topic. Let's go to the project we are going to carry out this bidding."
Chapter completed!