Chapter 115 Despicable Means
After many discussions, the military finally agreed to try to sell 20,000 old Chasper rifles to Ethiopia, half selling and half giving away, for 800,000 drachmas, each rifle comes with 40 rounds of ammunition.
The military funds obtained will be used to subsidize the army's military expenses.
This batch of weapons will be negotiated with the Ethiopian government by the Greek ambassador to Addis Ababa (the capital of Ethiopia).
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In October 1894, Constantinople, in a coffee house on the coast of the Golden Horn.
The sparkling Golden Horn, under the rendering of the bloody sunset, the sea water is like an overturned red paint bottle.
Gulls are flying and the sea breeze is blowing.
Jefferson, who was affiliated with the British firm, put down the coffee cup in his hand and saw the French businessman Derek across from him, slowly stirring the spoon and admiring the beautiful scenery outside the window. He said unhappily: "Derrick, we are both about to lose our jobs, and you really have the leisure time."
Derrick, who heard Jefferson's complaints, did not turn his head and said uninterestedly: "What can I do? The price of Greek cotton cloth is lower than ours, and the market share is constantly expanding. I am almost planning to change my career."
Derrick thought of the price of Greek cotton cloth, sighed, took a sip of coffee, and said: "We have to think of a way. If the situation continues like this, our future will be ruined."
The two were the local heads of the British and French firms in Ottoman, mainly responsible for the sale and purchase of cotton cloth in the Ottoman Empire.
With the rise of the Greek textile industry in the eastern Mediterranean in recent years, the cotton cloth market in Ottoman, which was originally almost entirely occupied by the two countries, has suddenly changed.
Greece not only has geographical advantages, being closer to the Ottoman Empire than Britain and France, but also has many Greek merchants in the Eastern Mediterranean, including the Ottoman Empire, such as the Balkans, the Black Sea coast, Syria and other regions, and has a complex network of relationships.
Greek merchants living in Egypt, led by Kontoriotis, invested a large amount of money in the Greek textile industry, which developed rapidly with the support of Constantine and Greek Prime Minister Trikoupis.
The Greek textile industry uses advanced electric textile machines with high production efficiency and no drag from backward production capacity. Therefore, the Greek power industry has developed almost in sync with the textile industry.
In addition to textile machinery, the Greek textile industry also needs to import from Germany, and has almost achieved the development of the entire industrial chain, such as cotton spinning, weaving, dye production (Nobel's gunpowder factory), and power stations.
Importing cotton from Egypt and Asia Minor, plus Greece's own small production (less than 5,000 tons), transporting it to the industrial zone of Athens, processing it into cotton cloth, and then selling it back to markets in Asia Minor, Egypt, the Balkans and other places has become an economic cycle that has benefited Greece greatly.
The export of textiles from Greece has been rising year by year, and the textile industry has become a pillar industry in Greece.
In contrast, the domestic textile industries in Britain and France at the end of the 19th century were very different.
Since these two countries are both colonial powers, they have relatively fixed markets. For example, Britain has almost monopolized the textile markets in India and the south of the Yangtze River in the Qing Dynasty.
The textile industry in France is similar. For example, the textile market in Vietnam is undoubtedly the private land of the French textile industry.
Such markets are exclusive and do not allow products from other countries to enter.
The textile factory owners of the two countries are of course happy with this relatively fixed market, because it means that they can get a stable income regardless of drought or flood, and no one will compete with them.
There are pros and cons to everything. This situation has also led to inertia in the textile industries of the two countries: since no one can compete for my textile market, why should I work hard to improve management methods and purchase advanced machinery and equipment? There is no need!
For example, in the textile industry, even if the textile machines powered by electricity have higher production efficiency, the textile factories of the two countries are still holding on to the old steam-powered machinery and are unwilling to let go.
Because the cost of purchasing new machines is very expensive: the cost of the machine itself, the cost and time of training new skilled workers, and the time cost of the adaptation period of the new management method.
The series of cost expenditures brought about by the emergence of new technologies have discouraged factory owners in both countries.
Even if the goods produced are of poor quality and high price, these colonial consumers have no other choice, monopoly.
Similar to textiles, the markets of other industrial products of the two countries are exclusive within their respective spheres of influence, and are only open to domestic industrial products.
This comfortable situation has led to the lack of enterprising spirit in the industrial sectors of the two countries. They have lived in the greenhouse built by the government for a long time, and their competitiveness has gradually declined.
However, in the markets of Europe and other independent countries, you will not buy into this. People will naturally choose high-quality and low-priced goods in the national market.
This is why after entering the 20th century, the German and American industries rose, conquered the European market, and won victory after victory.
Germany and the United States developed rapidly in the second industrial revolution represented by electrification and internal combustion engines, but the original hegemons Britain and France reacted slowly and fell behind Germany and the United States in the wave of the second industrial revolution.
Because Germany and the United States do not have vast colonies like Britain and France (Germany acquired its colonies very late, and although they are not small in size, they are not densely populated areas and have limited markets), they can open up their own industrial products alone.
Under such circumstances, factory owners and capitalists in Germany and the United States had to pay close attention to changes in the market, adopt the most advanced technology, more efficient management methods, and workers with higher quality to ensure that they could enhance their competitiveness, produce better quality products, and lower prices, so that they could survive in the cruel market.
As one rises and the other falls, the increasingly conservative British and French industrial sectors, accustomed to comfort, are naturally not as competitive as the aggressive German and American industrial sectors.
After experiencing the market collapse of independent countries, factory owners and capitalists in Britain and France naturally cherished the remaining colonial markets more, and were reluctant to let go of the colonies and let them become independent.
By the 20th century, colonies had actually become a sweet burden, dragging down the original world hegemons Britain and France.
As professional practitioners, Jefferson and Derek deeply realized that their country's textiles were indeed not as competitive as Greece, at least in the Ottoman Empire market.
However, they were unwilling to admit defeat in such a humiliating way.
At this time, Britain and France were at their peak, especially Britain, whose national strength was at its peak and unprecedentedly strong. Jefferson surrendered to the Greek merchants. The self-esteem of the British Empire could not tolerate such humiliation.
Thinking of this, Jefferson's eyes rolled, he stood up, leaned over the table, and whispered to Derek, "..."
"What do you think of this idea? Ha, it's time to teach the Greeks a lesson and let them know whose territory this is," Jefferson said with a smirk.
After listening to Jefferson's attention, Derek secretly despised: It is worthy of being a country that started as a pirate. It is not a rival in commercial competition, so it secretly uses despicable means.
But on his face, he said with a flattering face: "This is a good idea, Jefferson, I can pay half of the bribery expenses, and wait for your good news"