1929 to 1946 was the golden age of Hollywood movies.

In the late 1920s, due to the advancement of overall film technology, films began to be produced in industrialized at this time, and genre films quickly occupied the market, especially the revolution in audio technology, which made audio films a leap forward development, and watching movies became the main entertainment life for Americans.

In the 1930s, the average number of movies in the United States was more than 30 times a year, with an average of 80 million people going to cinemas every week. This phenomenon continued until after World War II. Later, with the popularity of television, Hollywood movies gradually declined. In the late 1950s, the average number of moviegoers had dropped to 40 million. Hollywood movies of that era were beaten by TV shows. It was not until George Lucas, James Cameron, and Steve Spielberg that Hollywood movies returned to their peak.

Chen Qiang knows nothing about making movies. He is like the coal bosses who have money and have nowhere to spend in the future. He doesn't know anything and will just spend money.

Fortunately, it wouldn't cost much to invest in movies in this era. In the future, the Hollywood blockbusters would cost hundreds of millions of dollars to burn for various special effects. In the 1940s, there were no special effects that cost a lot of money. In addition to the pay of the cast and crew, the more expensive ones were probably films of movies. After all, the technology in that era was not developed, and the production cost of films was very high, and the selling cost was very expensive. If an actor had more than ten times in a scene, the entire crew would feel sorry for the wasted films.

Chen Qiang only needs to pay for the money to invest in movies, and the rest is left to the lawyers. Hollywood produces so many movies every year, which will naturally attract many investors. Not every investor understands movies, and there are many coal bosses. Therefore, there are many lawyers in Hollywood who make money. They help investors negotiate the details of investment with the producers, help investors gain more returns, and even supervise the orientation of investment funds to ensure that every penny of investors is not wasted.

Chen Qiang is not a film expert, he is not even a veteran movie fan, and he doesn't know what kind of movie he invested in "Mrs. Minnifer" is, but he originally spent money to buy a role for Esther. As long as Esther is happy, Chen Qiang did not continue to pay attention to the movie.

At the beginning of the new year, Chen Qiang left Los Angeles and returned to New York, and went to Washington again on the way.

The day we arrived in Washington was the Little Year of the Lunar New Year. Hu Shi directly left Chen Qiang in the embassy and asked Chen Qiang to celebrate the New Year in Washington.

In the past year, the work of the Embassy in the United States has been very outstanding. In the first half of the year, he used tin ore as collateral and borrowed 20 million from Americans. In the second half of the year, he used tungsten ore as collateral and borrowed 25 million from Americans. Now he is talking to Roosevelt about a bigger loan.

At the dining table, Hu Shi was a little drunk. He said excitedly: "The White House has promised that we will lend us 100 million US dollars next year. Special Envoy Song is currently negotiating with the Americans!"

"Americans are really willing to give us 100 million?" Chen Qiang was a little surprised, and then he asked, "What mortgage does the Americans want this time?"

"The metal mines in Yunnan must be mortgaged to Americans again, and Americans also like our standard fund." Hu Shi answered.

Chen Qiang was shocked: "This American has a big appetite! This is planning to control China's economy!"

When the Republic of China carried out the fiat currency reform, a quasi-qualification fund was established as a guarantee for the issuance of fiat currency. It can be said that the quasi-qualification fund is the basis of fiat currency. At that time, the quasi-qualification fund was established with the help of the British, so the early fiat currency was also closely watching the exchange rate of the pound. Now the United States hopes to take the opportunity to borrow money and interfere with the quasi-qualification fund. It is obviously intended to control China's fiat currency and thus control the entire Chinese economy.

With the financial knowledge that Chen Qiang has mastered, even if he still can't figure out the connotation of a crude fund, he grew up in this era and personally experienced the reform of fiat currency, so he knew that the Americans were planning to attack fiat currency. Once a country's currency is controlled by foreign countries, the country's economy will become a foreign colony.

Before, China and the United States paid tung oil, tin ore and tungsten ore. Although China must have lost money when final settlement, the value of the minerals paid was far higher than the amount received, as long as the mine was returned to the United States, the two sides would be cleared. But once China pays the "equal fund" to borrow, the entire Chinese economy will be controlled by the United States in the future.

It can be said that the United States is quite smart in its plan to use tens of millions of dollars in exchange for control of China's economy.

With Chen Qiang's understanding of Chongqing, as long as the United States is willing to give money, Chongqing will most likely agree to the United States' request. Due to the Southern Anhui Incident, Chongqing is now being criticized by thousands of people, and is politically limited to an isolated situation. If it can obtain US aid at this time, it will greatly alleviate the pressure on Chongqing.

Therefore, even if China's economy will be controlled by the United States, Chongqing will not hesitate to agree to the United States' request.

Chen Qiang and Hu Shi were talking about borrowing money from Americans. An officer from the Embassy in the United States came over. He was holding a telegram in his hand and looked happy on his face.

"Ambassador Hu, domestic telegram." The embassy secretary handed the telegram to Hu Shi.

After reading the telegram, Hu Shi suddenly looked happy.

"Sir, are there any happy events? Is there a victory in the country?" Chen Qiang asked.

"We won the battle!" Hu Shi nodded and then said, "A Japanese plane on Jiluo Road, a guerrilla in Guangdong, guess who is on this plane?"

"It's definitely not the Emperor of Japan, nor will it be Hideki Tojo and Iroku Yamamoto." Chen Qiang said casually.

"It's not Yamamoto Izuru, but it's almost the same. The one on the plane is Okakuchi!" Hu Shi said excitedly.

"Who is Daikoku-Sheng? He is also a senior official in Japan?" Chen Qiang was not familiar with this name.

Hu Shi introduced: "Okao Kinsuke is a Japanese Navy general and has served as the Navy Minister in Japan's three-term cabinet! He is a veteran of the Japanese Navy and holds real power in the Japanese military!"

"Did this Dajiao Qinsheng be shot dead or captured alive?" Chen Qiang asked again.

"I'm dead. When the plane fell, the person was already bloody and bloody. The guerrillas saw that he was wearing different clothes than others. They turned over his personal documents to confirm their identity. A major general of the Japanese Navy, General Yoshijiro Suga, was beaten down together." Hu Shi said.

"This is really good news. I killed a naval general. This should be the highest-level Japanese officer we have killed since the start of the development, right?" Chen Qiang asked.

"That's right, the Japanese have to have decades and never lost the Navy general!" Hu Shi seemed very excited. He couldn't help but pick up the wine glass and drank it all in one go.

Chen Qiang pondered for a long time, then asked, "Does Americans know about this?"

"How could I know this!" Hu Shi shook his head and said.

"If Americans don't know, we have to let them know." Chen Qiang said.

"Why? Could it be that you still want to show off your merits to the Americans!" Hu Shi said with a smile.

"Sir, think about it carefully, why did Dajiao Qinsheng appear in Guangdong?" Chen Qiang asked.

"Is it a surprise that these Japanese invaders appeared in Guangdong?" Hu Shi asked subconsciously.

"But he is a Japanese Navy general!" Chen Qiang said.

"The Japanese Navy General can't go to Guangdong?" Hu Shi still looked puzzled.

Chen Qiang immediately said, "Sir, we don't have a navy. Now the waters around China are all controlled by the Japanese. Even the Yangtze River and the Pearl River are all Japanese warships. If we deal with China, Japan will send a few warships, and we can't beat them. Do they have to be a naval general?"

"Chen Qiang, do you have any ideas?" Hu Shi asked.

"Sir, don't you realize that Japan sent a naval general to attack Southeast Asia?" Chen Qiang asked back.

Hu Shi frowned and thought for a while, then nodded: "It's possible, but it may not be. Maybe that Dajiao Qinsheng was just a routine inspection and happened to come to Guangzhou."

"It doesn't matter why Son Seung of Okaku came. The key is to make the Americans believe that Japan's next goal is Southeast Asia. We must make the Americans believe that Japan will attack the Philippines! And Son Seung of Okaku was preparing to launch an attack on Southeast Asia." Chen Qiang said.

Hu Shi nodded with enlightenment: "You guys have many ideas. The Philippines is the territory of Americans, and it cannot tolerate Japanese people. You are a good move to drive away tigers and swallow wolves!"

...

After the Spring Festival, Chen Qiang left Washington and returned to New York.

Although it has entered February 1941, the hula hoop is still a best-selling product.

In fact, the hula hoops launched by Chen Qiang are not of good quality. In order to save costs, Chen Qiang specially asked Beckland to cut corners. In addition, the plastic production process of that era was relatively backward, and it was difficult to produce high-quality hula hoops, which made the hula hoops sold by Chen Qiang easily break.

Fortunately, the price of hula hoops is not high. When the output increases, the purchase of hula hoops will no longer exist. Each hula hoop is only sold for 70 cents, which ordinary American families can afford. If they fail, they will buy one, which will not cost much.

As the first batch of hula hoops launched last year gradually became damaged, more and more people will buy the second or third hula hoop. Although the popularity of hula hoops has decreased, sales are still very good.

Chen Qiang also initially planned to sell the hula hoop outside the United States, and his first target was naturally Europe.

Historically, after Americans launched the hula hoop in 1958, they soon spread the hula hoop to Europe. After 1960, hula hoops became popular in Europe. The sales of hula hoops in the entire European region were also hundreds of millions.

So Chen Qiang firmly believes that Europeans can definitely accept hula hoops. If they ship hula hoops to Europe, they will definitely be sold.

However, Europe is not a good place to dump goods. Britain, which has the best relationship with the United States, is in a precarious state under the attack of the Luftwaffe. From time to time, German fighter jets can be seen hovering over the British Isles. Such a UK needs strategic materials such as weapons, food and medicine, rather than hula hoops.

The European continent has been divided by the Soviet Union and Germany. The United States has a bad relationship with Germany and its relationship with the Soviet Union. It is difficult for American industrial products to be sold to Germany and the Soviet Union. Even if the Americans are willing to sell, Germany and the Soviet Union may not be willing to buy them. What's more, it was already 1941 and the United States is about to participate in the war. By then, American goods will be even more unlikely to be sold to the German territory.

Although Switzerland is a neutral country, Switzerland is an inland country, surrounded by German territory, and American goods cannot be transported to Switzerland through German territory.

The only major country in mainland Europe that is likely to buy American products is probably Spain.

During World War II, Spain did not break up with the United States and Britain, and at the same time it also supported Germany in various verbal and spiritual ways. It was considered to be a plea with both sides, and neither side was offended. Moreover, because Spain produced a lot of tungsten ore, which was a necessary strategic resource for the military industry, the United States, Britain and Germany all imported tungsten ore sand from Spain, and Spain also made a fortune in war.

With the international situation at that time, the United States and Britain also took great pains to prevent Spain from completely investing in Germany. After all, Spain controlled the Strait of Gibraltar and its strategic position was very important. In order to stabilize Spain, Britain and the United States relaxed their oil import controls and industrial raw materials controls, and at the same time exported medicines to Spain in the name of the Red Cross.

In other words, during World War II, American industrial products could be sold to Spain.

But Spain is in Europe after all, in a difficult place. After Germany implemented the wolves tactic, any American ship arriving in Spain was extremely precious. During the war, if there was a place on the ship, it would definitely give priority to transport strategic materials and would not transport things like hula hoops.

It is obviously unrealistic to sell hula hoops to Europe, but Chen Qiang thought of another place that has something to do with Spain, that is Argentina in South America.

The World War did not affect South America. Although South American industry was backward at that time and could not sell weapons and industrial products to Europe, South America still made great profits during World War II by selling food and textiles.

The two largest countries in South America were Brazil and Argentina, both of which were the agricultural powers of the time.

Before World War II, coffee was Brazil's main export product. Due to the Great Depression in 1929, Brazil's "coffee economy" was also hit hard. The subsequent coup, dictatorship and constitutional monarchy caused politics to fall into chaos and would not recover in the next few decades. It is estimated that in such political instability, the consumption capacity of ordinary people will also be limited, and the market for the hula hoop will not be too large.

The situation in Argentina was much better. Argentina was still a developed country at that time, and Buenos Aires was called "South American Paris". Before World War II, Shanghai was called "Eastern Paris", and Buenos Aires' level of development was not inferior to Shanghai at that time.

In 1941, Juan Peron had not launched a coup, and the confrontation between Peronism and anti-Peronism had not yet destroyed the country. At this time, the political situation in Argentina was stable, and the people lived and worked in peace. In addition, Argentina's industry was not well developed, so for the United States, rich Argentina was a very suitable place for dumping goods.

There are many people in New York who do international trade with Argentina. It is not difficult for Chen Qiang to sell hula hoops to Argentina. After he returned to New York, it took only a week to get the hula hoops sold to Argentina.

The hula hoop finally began to go all over the world!

—————
Chapter completed!