1855 United States Tycoon

Although Woodgate claimed that it would take three days for Scrooge to reply, Scrooge knew that Woodgate, or the British Empire, had no other choice at all. Because now, only Scrooge's shipyard can build transport ships that can save Britain. Indeed, these ships of Scrooge have poor economy, high fuel consumption, small capacity per unit displacement, short service life, and even low quality, but the price is not cheap. However, these things can save the life of the British Empire, although from another perspective, these things are killing the British Empire just like the German submarines. The treasury of the British Empire has long since starved mice to death, and now any large-scale ordering of such ships will only have to borrow money. This time I don’t know what to use as collateral.

"At a minimum, the British will also order 300 cargo ships from us." Scrooge said to Greystone. "They spend a lot of money now. They definitely can't get cash. They can only do it again. Bonds are issued. Bonds must be secured, Grey Stone, what do you think we should propose for the British to use as collateral for these bonds?"

"Dad, what do you think of some of the benefits of the Suez Canal?" Greystone said.

The Suez Canal is one of the most important and busiest canals. The level of profitability is significantly higher than that of the Panama Canal in Scrooge's hands. Moreover, the profitability of this canal is quite stable, although the profit margin is not counted. Very high, but such a risk-free profit is very rare. The Macdonald Consortium had already drooled over this canal, but at that time Britain was still strong and the Rothschild family was also very powerful, so MacDonald could only drool over the Suez Canal. But the situation is different now. Britain is now in urgent need of funds to save lives. What about Rothschild, his assets are all over Europe, and now the whole of Europe is involved in the war. Their losses are not small. Although they have kept most of their wealth through financial means, most of this wealth has now become wealth on the books, into long-term bonds of the United Kingdom and France, instead of immediately stirring up the wind and rain. Now there is no big money hard currency in Europe that can really call the wind and rain, because the gold in the treasury of the United Kingdom, France, and Italy is now sent to the United States, and then put into the vaults of the banks of the Federal Reserve, such as Said that MacDonald Ventures Bank bought an abandoned mine in Cleveland and transformed it into a brand new, heavily guarded underground vault. Because the vault under the duck castle is no longer enough.

Under such circumstances, Rothschild did not have the power to oppose the McDonald Consortium's hand to the Suez Canal. So Greystone proposed to let the British use the rights of the Suez Canal as a bargaining chip in exchange.

"That's not bad," Scrooge said.

"But Dad, I'm a bit worried about whether we will be squeezed out by the British by various means after the war is over," Grey Stone said again.

"Don't worry about this now. After the war, it is not easy for the British to have the power to drive us out of the Suez Canal." Scrooge said.

Scrooge knew that this war would greatly deplete Britain's power, and that the strength of Britain and United States would change drastically. In the original history, after the war, Britain had to recognize the equal sea rights of United States and Britain. And in this time and space, because of the influence of Scrooge, the loss of Britain in the war will only be greater, and the United States, to be precise, the income of the Macdonald Consortium in the war will be more, no matter the premise Next, whether the British can continue to shrink after the war will have to be blessed by God, and they want to squeeze the United States out of the place they already occupy? It is simply a dream. If the British really don’t know good or bad, Scrooge wouldn’t mind letting the United States and the United Kingdom play another shipbuilding race. He could even let the United States government learn from the British back then and tell them: "If you think there is If you can play with United States, United States doesn’t mind staying with you to the end. Hehe, we United States like to deal with those guys who think they are outstanding. If you dare to build a battleship, we dare to build two! You know, United States never speaks empty words." Anyway, for the shipbuilding tycoon Scrooge, this kind of thing is definitely profitable.

"In fact, in addition to the Suez Canal, there is another place that is very worthy of attention." Scrooge said.

"Where?" Greystone asked.

"The Persian Gulf," Scrooge replied.

"Here? Well, I heard that someone found oil here." Grey Stone nodded and said, "But this place is messy. The British, French, Germans, Turks, and Arabs are in a mess. But that’s not a problem, but is there a lot of investment value here?"

Hearing the question from Grey Stone, Scrooge couldn't help but smile. The question of whether the Gulf region has investment value is not a problem for any traveler like Scrooge. Because there are oil fields with the best quality, development difficulty, and the lowest development cost in the world. Even in the 21st century, the cost of extracting oil there is less than ten US dollars per barrel. In contrast, some other oil fields, such as Russia, such as the North Sea Brent, their extraction costs are almost 40. Dollars out. Holding such oil fields in one's hands is almost tantamount to holding the pricing power of the oil market steadily in one's hands, which is of far-reaching significance. More importantly, although oil has been discovered in this area, large-scale exploration and development have not yet begun, so it has not received enough attention. If Suez is a place where Scrooge drools, then the Persian Gulf is simply a place where Scrooge is willing to throw his blood on it. Of course, it is best to throw someone's head and sprinkle others. Passionate.

"Of course, based on some geological theories that we only have and have been kept secret, we believe that there is a huge possibility of discovering super-large oil fields in the Persian Gulf. Moreover, this location is convenient for transportation, and it is really worth the investment." Shi Gaozhi replied.

"Well, Dad, I will try my best to take advantage of this area." Grey Stone said.

"Consult with Donald. In addition to talking with the British, you can also talk with the local emirs. Although they are still surrendered to the Turkish Sultan in name, in fact, Turkey has already lost control of these areas. Yes, all the tribes here are seeking help from outsiders. As long as we have money and guns, they are willing to fight for our interests. In addition, the British are talking with our President about the lease of our navy destroyer. .You can exert some influence and promote this negotiation, and it is better for the British to come up with a port near the Persian Gulf in exchange.” Scrooge reminded.

"Okay, Dad. I'll discuss it with Donald," Grey Stone said.

...

As Scrooge predicted, before the third day, Sir Woodgate came again. This time we need to talk about some specific things, so it was Grey Stone who received him.

"Mr. MacDonald, we hope to order 400 freighters through you, 100 of which are fast freighters using high-speed steam engines, and the others are ordinary speed freighters..." In the spacious and bright living room of Duck Castle, both parties started Negotiated.

The British ordered 100 high-speed cargo ships with low service life and 300 low-speed cargo ships with low service life. This ordering method was actually a trap of Scrooge. In the British experience, as long as there are warships escorting, the merchant fleet will not suffer much loss even if it is slower. Although the PQ77 fleet suffered a heavy loss one night, this case did not make the British too vigilant. . In fact, this success of U-92 is indeed quite accidental.

So the British feel that since the slow version of Sherlock cargo ships can be built slightly faster (because the supply of engines is more abundant), the price is lower, and the economy is better, so of course they should order more slow versions. Yes, of course, you must order some of the fast version. After all, the number of escort ships is limited, and some can’t take care of it. These faster cargo ships can sail alone in time without relying on escorts, and they can also have a not low survival rate. Of course it is very good, at least it can be used for emergency rescue until the number of escort ships is sufficient.

However, there is a tactic that can perfectly counter the escort formation. After the British prepared the destroyer for the escort, Scrooge would let the Germans master such tactics, and then turn all the low-speed cargo ships in the hands of the British into targets for the Germans. I ordered a new, high-speed version of the cargo ship myself. This is almost equal to artificially doubling the demand for cargo ships. In this business, the money that the MacDonald Consortium can make has doubled, and the United Kingdom will become more weak as a result, relying more on MacDonald’s capital chain, and even less able to reject MacDonald’s. Some requirements.

Negotiations between the two sides quickly reached an agreement. MacDonald purchased a portion of the bonds from the British, who used the proceeds of the Suez Canal as collateral for repayment. The British used the money to order the first 400 freighters from McDonald. At the same time, the British also expressed their intention to continue to order more ships in the future to the Macdonald Consortium.

...

At the same time, negotiations between the United Kingdom and the United States regarding the lease of the destroyer from the United Kingdom to the United Kingdom are also in full swing. Soon, the two countries also issued a joint statement that the British will move them to a joint venture in western India (now in Pakistan). The port was leased to United States for ninety-nine years, and as rent, United States transferred forty destroyers to the United Kingdom.

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