Chapter 175 Far Eastern Arms Dealer (3rd update, please subscribe)
Get one hundred thousand yuan easily!
Liu Kunpeng feels so comfortable when the business comes to his door!
How could a businessman not like doing business with officials from the Tatar Qing Kingdom? These people were very willing to pay. Of course, that was on the premise that they had money.
However, the Qing Dynasty was really rich!
When buying weapons, they almost never asked about the price. But asking was useless, because all the banks in Shanghai treated them as suckers.
A P1853 Enfield rifle worth only 10 taels of silver could be sold for at least 20 or 30 taels of silver in Shanghai. Don't think it's too expensive. Sometimes ordinary local officials may not be able to buy it even if they hold silver. Why? Because they have never dealt with officials from other regions.
In other words, Liu Kunpeng was really willing to deal with those officials from other places when doing business. Now he even sold foreign guns and cannons to Henan, Shandong and other places. He even sold guns and cannons to Shaanxi.
Nowadays, there are few people in Shanghai who don’t know the name of America Trading Company. Of course, everyone knows the name of Mr. Liu, and knows that he is easier to deal with than foreigners and his prices are fair.
After discussing the small business, Liu Kunpeng mentioned another big deal.
"Governor, I recently heard in the concession that Mr. Wall persuaded Mr. Wu to buy a warship."
The Wall mentioned by Liu Kunpeng is an American businessman and the founder of the Foreign Rifle Team. They won the trust of Wu Xu in their early years. As early as last year, they had been lobbying Wu Xu to purchase Western warships to resist the Taiping Navy.
"I've heard about this, too. Wall seemed to claim that '400,000 taels of silver can buy one large warship and four small warships'. Shu Ren, you've been staying in foreign territory for years. Can you really buy five warships with 400,000 taels of silver?"
Lord Li was puzzled. He was a layman when it came to warships, but like Wu Xu, he felt that Wall's offer was very low. 400,000 taels of silver to buy five warships was worth it!
"Four hundred thousand taels, to buy five warships, is worth it, definitely worth it, but Sir Li, it is hard to say what kind of army these five warships are."
Looking at Lord Li, Liu Kunpeng smiled.
"If we buy back a few obsolete wooden ships, we will suffer huge losses!"
"A wooden ship? Can this ship have an iron hull? How can this iron hull ship float on the water?"
Lord Li asked doubtfully.
"Your Excellency the Governor, you may not know that Britain and France had already built ironclad ships a few years ago. Now all Western countries are competing to build ironclad ships. Wooden-hulled warships are being eliminated even in second-rate countries like the United States. I suspect that the wooden-hulled ships that the Wall Brothers want to sell to the Qing Dynasty may be the wooden-hulled ships that the United States has eliminated. Such ships are only worth tens of thousands of taels each. Five ships, including the ships and guns, even with the hired foreign staff, can only cost 200,000 taels at most. They can make 200,000 taels by reselling them. The Wall Brothers are really doing a good business!"
Liu Kunpeng's sigh made Lord Li frown. He was already at odds with the Wall brothers, so he was unhappy.
"These two brothers, the Wall brothers, are really profiteers! They are so despicable."
After saying that, he sighed again.
"Unfortunately, there are too few merchants like Shu Ren in Shanghai. Even among interpreters and compradors, few are willing to be controlled by foreigners."
Liu Kunpeng was of course pleased with the praise from the Governor Li. After laying the groundwork in a few words, he changed the subject to recruiting workers. Of course, Li laughed at the mention of recruiting workers in northern Jiangsu, and seemed unwilling to discuss it in depth. Liu Kunpeng would not force it, but just let him know.
When he left the Huai Army camp and got on the carriage back to the concession, Liu Kunpeng's smile disappeared and he sneered.
"Once you have tasted the sweetness, you won't refuse it!"
Will those people turn down the benefits that come to their doorstep?
Impossible, there was no official in the Qing Dynasty who was not greedy for money. As long as there was money to be made, not only would they turn a blind eye to "recruiting workers", they would even turn a blind eye to the trafficking of coolies.
The reason why Lord Li has not expressed his opinion now is that he just doesn't want to be directly involved in this matter. If you don't want to talk to him, you can talk to other people.
As long as he doesn't object in person, it means the matter has been settled.
He tapped the roof of the coach with his stick and shouted to the driver.
"Go straight to the dock!"
…
The next morning, before the ship reached Yangshan, Liu Kunpeng was frightened by the huge ship anchored on the sea between the Big and Small Yangshan Mountains. Not to mention him, even the captain of his ship was so frightened that he almost fell to his knees.
"Oh my God, this can't be the dragon boat of the Dragon King of the East China Sea!"
The "Great Eastern" was like a floating city, quietly anchored on the sea. Surrounding it were small wooden boats filled with men and women of different ages. These people were all immigrants in the waiting center. Of course, they did not come here voluntarily, but once they arrived at the waiting center, they had no other choice.
After all, they had accepted their fate since the day they were kidnapped by the long-haired men. Although they accepted their fate, when they left the waiting room and boarded the big iron ship, they all looked at it with astonishment. In that moment, they even became more obedient. After all, in front of such a huge ship, humans inevitably become insignificant, and they can't help but feel admiration and awe.
When the wooden board passed near the "Great Eastern", Liu Kunpeng opened his eyes wide in astonishment. He could even hear the "boom boom" sound of his own heart. At this moment, there was only one thought left in his mind - awe!
Even he himself became extremely insignificant...
"Brother Liu, what do you think of this boat?"
Li Fugui pointed at the iron ship on the sea and said to Liu Kunpeng.
“This ship is made of iron!”
“There really is an iron-hulled ship!”
Liu Kunpeng said in surprise.
"I thought it was nonsense!"
"What do you think? Otherwise, how could this ship be built so big? By the way, I asked you to come here this time because I want you to go to Hangzhou to discuss a big business with Li Xiucheng."
"Big business?"
Liu Kunpeng said in surprise.
"What business?"
"where……"
Li Fugui smiled, pointing at a strange-looking boat parked near the dock.
"The boss told you to sell this ironclad ship to Prince Zhong!"
What!
Sell the ironclad ship to King Zhong!
Liu Kunpeng said in amazement, staring at the ironclad ship with wide eyes and looking at the huge cannon that was big enough to fit a head.
"This, this cannon is so big!"
In front of the ironclad ship is a huge 10-inch Dahlgren muzzle-loading rifled gun. This gun is absolutely amazing in the Far East and is absolutely like a king.
"How can it not be big? This is a ten-inch cannon, weighing 12,000 pounds, with a solid shell of 124 pounds, a grenade of 101.5 pounds, and a range of 3,000 yards..."
As he spoke, Li Fugui pointed at the artillery position on Yangshan Island.
"Four doors were brought in this time. I have placed them on the island. We must be on guard against others!"
From Tanhu Mountain to Yangshan, although it is farther away from the mainland, safety issues must still be considered. After all, this is not only a waiting point, but also a material warehouse. Building a fort is a natural thing.
"That's right, but don't leave those 12-pounders unused. I'll sell them later."
For arms dealers, the most important thing is to sell the goods, regardless of whether they are new or old, rather than letting them gather dust in the warehouse.
Then Liu Kunpeng asked again.
"It, really has armor?"
"Yes, there is indeed iron armor. The thickest part is one inch, and the thinnest part is half an inch. I heard from the people on the ship that even if the iron armor is half an inch thick, ordinary cannons cannot penetrate it. I dare say that with it, the Qing soldiers will no longer be a match for the Taiping!"
“This, this…”
Staring at the invincible ironclad ship, Liu Kunpeng asked.
"Is it appropriate to sell it to Longhair?"
"Suitable! How can it not be suitable? Don't you remember what the boss said?"
Li Fukun said with a smile.
"An arms dealer who doesn't sell arms to the warring parties is not a good arms dealer. The more intense the fighting between them, the better our business will be."
I have set up a book club: 335260551. Everyone is welcome to join and discuss and deduce the plot together.
(End of this chapter)
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