The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 562: The British Minister turned against us!
"Mr. Chen, we are very grateful for your help!" DePierlavette said solemnly.

He only raised a slight objection to the price of the guns and ammunition, and then decided to agree to the price.

Just like Chen Zhengwei said, these things are what they need the most. Chen Zhengwei sending these things over is already a timely help.

"Mr. Chen, we still need more ammunition, and we are also short of a lot of food, coal and medicine. Do you have any solution?" Depierravit asked again.

In fact, Peru lacks not only these, but also various industrial materials, chemical products and metal products.

Although Peru is rich in copper mines, its industrial level is very poor.

Industrial materials and chemical products are the prerequisite for maintaining Peru's poor industrial production.

But in the face of food, fuel and medicine, these can be put aside.

Due to the long-term shortage of various supplies, the morale of the soldiers on the front line has been very low and they are retreating step by step.

Some areas in the south have been occupied by Chile, and Chile, after reorganization, is attacking to the north.

Now these ammunitions can allow Peru to temporarily maintain its current defense line, but if they want to retake the occupied areas, they still need more supplies.

"The Chilean army is now blockading your coastal areas and ports. It will be difficult to deliver supplies unless there are warships to escort them!" Chen Zhengwei sat down on the chair, tapping his fingers on his deputy's hand as he thought about a problem.

"We are willing to pay a higher price!" DePirlavet said solemnly.

"It's not a question of cost. I'm actually passing through Peru this time! I plan to go around Cape Horn and go to the Atlantic Ocean." Chen Zhengwei said.

He was thinking about this issue. Peru was now severely blockaded, and Chile had occupied the Tarapacá Province and several other important coastal areas.

"Mr. Chen, our country and our people beg for your help! We are willing to pay a higher price to purchase supplies!"

Chen Zhengwei grinned, his smile somewhat sarcastic.

What does your country and your people have to do with me?

"There are more than 20,000 Chinese in Peru. They signed an agreement to be exchanged. Now that Peru is facing a war, their lives are not easy. I am willing to exchange these people for supplies." DePirlavet took out another important bargaining chip.

"What do they have to do with me?" Chen Zhengwei glanced at him and sneered.

"They came here voluntarily to work as laborers. I didn't force them to come. And do you know how many Chinese there are in the Qing Dynasty? Hundreds of millions! You don't think that just because they have the same skin color and language as me, I will trade them back, right?"

"Mr. Chen, I just want to show our sincerity!" Depierravit said seriously.

He still had some confidence in this bargaining chip, which was discussed by the cabinet after an all-night meeting last night.

Chen Zhengwei sat there expressionlessly, thinking.

The more than 20,000 Chinese workers actually did not have much appeal to him.

After all, there are so many people in the Qing Dynasty.

Cuba is still more attractive to him.

However, if Peru can offer more benefits, it is not impossible to spend a little more time.

"Even if I ask you to take out the money now, you can't do it. Your country is about to go bankrupt!" Chen Zhengwei said after thinking for a moment.

"I want the mining rights of Peru, the export quota of guano, the exclusive right to trade in grain, tariff reductions on other commodities, and a port! You use these things as payment!"

"If you can agree, we can continue talking. Otherwise, forget it!"

"I can promise you! Mr. Chen, we can continue our conversation!" Depierravit agreed decisively.

Peru's mineral resources are originally mined by foreign companies. The Peruvian government only collects taxes and franchise fees, which is not a problem for them at all.

The real problem is the guano and the ports.

But if they don't agree, the Chilean army will attack Lima, the capital of Peru.

Moreover, several ports in the south have been occupied by Chile. As long as we can take those ports back, it is not impossible to rent one of them to Chen Zhengwei.

What worries him most is that Chen Zhengwei wants to enjoy the exclusive right to grain trade. However, this can only rely on the wisdom of future generations. He has to solve the crisis in front of him first.

When Chen Zhengwei heard this, he also smiled.

"Mr. President, you made a wise choice!"

Soon, DePirlavet took out a map and pointed to the central Andes Mountains.

"Mr. Chen, there are still a lot of untapped mineral veins here. I can set aside a part of the area for you!"

This is a highland area, making mining more difficult.

"And here in the Amazon Basin..."

Both areas are relatively remote, and mining would require huge investments.

However, the mineral deposits discovered in other regions are all in the hands of foreign mining companies and investors.

"I want the mining concession. As for the location, I will send people to explore! My goods are equivalent to loans to you, part of which can be deducted from taxes. Of course, there will be interest!" said Chen Zhengwei.

"I want 10% of the guano export share for a 80-year period!"

"As for the port, we can rent it to you! We can rent the Port of Ilo to you!" DePirlavet said, pointing to a port in southern Peru.

"If I remember correctly, this place is occupied by Chile, right? How can you rent it to me?" Chen Zhengwei sneered: "If you want to rent it, I will rent it from Chile!"

"We will take it back!" DePirlavette vowed.

Of course, what he hoped more was that Chen Zhengwei would help him get it back.

"I want Matarani Port! You have to rent it to me for 99 years!" Chen Zhengwei said directly.

This is the most important deep-water port in southern Peru and an important mineral export port, and it can also connect to the interior of South America.

"You need to take it back and give it to me. If you can't do that, then rent Callao to me!"

Callao is only 15 kilometers away from Lima, the capital of Peru, and is Peru's most important gateway to the Pacific Ocean.

"Callao is impossible!" DePirlavet's face changed immediately. This place is right next to Lima, and there is no way he would rent it to Chen Zhengwei.

"Why are you so nervous? Just hand over the Port of Matarani to me!" Chen Zhengwei pouted. "You don't have confidence, do you? If that's the case, I might as well go talk to Chile!"

"If Mr. Chen can send a fleet to occupy Matarani Port, we can pay a greater price!" DePierravitt said after thinking for a while.

Now almost all the southern ports are occupied by Chile. If Chen Zhengwei can occupy Port Matarani, then they will have a foothold in the south and can send troops from Port Matarani to cut off the supply lines of the Chilean army.

"What are you thinking about?" Chen Zhengwei said bluntly.

He has no grudge against Chile, and there are cannons in the port of Matarani. He would be crazy to help Peru fight a war.

Although it is not impossible, Peru certainly cannot afford such a high price.

The two sides argued here for a while, and in the end, DePiravet sent troops to occupy Port Matarani, and then Chen Zhengwei would announce that Port Matarani was leased to him by Peru, and then send a fleet to station here.

Unless Chile wants to go to war with Chen Zhengwei, they can only accept it.

However, the price was that Peru allocated more than 500 square kilometers around Matarani to Chen Zhengwei, and Chen Zhengwei had extraterritoriality and jurisdiction in the area, as well as his own tariff rights.

The two sides talked for a long time and reached some preliminary agreements. It was almost evening when DePierravit led his people away. He still needed to go back and discuss the next negotiations with the cabinet.

As soon as he left, the British Minister Spencer St. John came to visit.

"Good evening, Mr. Chen from San Francisco, I didn't expect to see you here!" Spencer St. John is 55 years old, with a head of golden hair that has many grays.

"Actually, I wanted to visit you during the day, but it's difficult!" Spencer St. John smiled. He wanted to visit Chen Zhengwei during the day, but was stopped.

"It looks like you have something important to talk to me about?" Chen Zhengwei asked with a smile.

"Yes, it's very important!" Spencer St. John said seriously.

"Sit down!" Chen Zhengwei sat on the sofa with his legs crossed.

Spencer St. John sat down and organized his words before saying, "Although I don't want to say this, Mr. Chen, I have to remind you!"

"You'd better not get involved in the Three Kingdoms War!"

"You can come to do a business and then leave, which can bring good profits. But that's all!" Although Spencer St. John's tone was flat, it contained a warning.

Chile's biggest supporter is Britain, which has huge interests in Chile.

The most important of these are saltpeter, guano and copper ore.

Saltpeter is the raw material for gunpowder and fertilizer.

Guano is the raw material for fertilizer.

Most of Chile's saltpeter mines are controlled by the British.

Britain has also invested heavily in infrastructure in Chile, such as railways and ports.

Besides that, Chile is a dumping market for the UK.

Therefore, this war involved the interests of a large number of British investors.

Not only that, Chile is located in South America and is an important part of the UK's global shipping routes.

The two main battleships of Chile were sold to them by the British.

That's why the British Minister came to see Chen Zhengwei.

Chen Zhengwei burst into laughter, almost crying. He laughed for a long time before saying:
"Are you warning me?"

"First of all, this is not funny! Secondly, this is a friendly reminder! Mr. Chen! We have a good cooperation history! So I don't want to see anything that will destroy this cooperation." Spencer St. John said frankly.

"Have you finished? Why don't I say it?" Chen Zhengwei smiled.

"Chile's saltpeter is very important to you! But next year I will be selling smokeless powder, and saltpeter is not the raw material for smokeless powder! This thing is not that valuable anymore!"

"The harder these three countries fight, the greater the gains you will get. I will sell some weapons to Peru, and then you can sell more weapons to Chile!" Chen Zhengwei suggested.

"This is called win-win cooperation! We can definitely cooperate!" Chen Zhengwei raised his glass to indicate that he really likes cooperating with others now.

"Mr. Chen, forgive me for being frank, your vision is very broad, but it is still limited to a certain range. We are not here to sell weapons!" Spencer St. John said reservedly.

Chen Zhengwei is just a warlord, but their British Empire is for Britain's global network of interests.

The two sides are not at the same level at all.

If it weren't for some rumors about Chen Zhengwei, he would not have warned Chen Zhengwei so gently.

"It looks like there's nothing to talk about!" When Chen Zhengwei heard the other party's words, his eyelids drooped slightly, and a fierce light began to flash in his eyes.

He felt as if he was being looked down upon.

"Mr. Chen, I suggest you don't act on your own. It will not do you any good!" Spencer St. John's voice became more severe.

"You should think more about the consequences! Even your warships were sold to you by our Royal Navy!"

"if you……"

Before he could finish his words, Chen Zhengwei grabbed the bottle and swung it at his head.

Boom!
The wine bottle shattered instantly, and the wine mixed with blood flowed down from Spencer St. John's head.

Spencer St. John was completely stunned.

"Fuck your mother! Fuck your mother! Do you treat me like a dog? You tell me to stay and I will stay. You tell me to leave and I will leave."

Chen Zhengwei's face was full of ferocity and he kicked Spencer St. John in the chest.

With the sound of bones breaking, Spencer St. John was kicked out along with the sofa. He fell to the ground with blood foam coming out of his mouth.

Looking at Chen Zhengwei who was walking towards him with a ferocious look on his face, fear appeared in Spencer St. John's eyes.

He knew that Chen Zhengwei had a bad temper, and many things explained it.

But he didn't expect Chen Zhengwei to have such a bad temper.

And who gave him the courage?
If he fell out with Britain, Britain would cut off its funding to him, and his ships and power would suffer a huge blow.

"Threaten me?" Chen Zhengwei lowered his head and looked down at Spencer Johnson.

"Are you fucking still asleep? Are you happy now?"

"Ah?" Chen Zhengwei stepped on Spencer Johnson's stomach.

Seeing that Spencer Johnson was only breathing in but not out, Chen Zhengwei turned around cursing.

"Get him ready, and then notify the President of Peru! Ask him to come over!"

A moment later, the President of Peru, who received the news, rushed over and saw Chen Zhengwei sitting alone on the sofa, but did not see the British envoy.

This made him a little strange.

He knew that the British Minister was coming.

In fact, he had been trying to prevent the British Minister from meeting Chen Zhengwei. Today, most of the negotiations were settled, and with the British Minister's tough stance, he signaled to let the British Minister go and meet Chen Zhengwei.

However, he did not receive any news of the British Minister's departure, and he did not see the British Minister at this time.

"There's a little trouble in our transaction!" Chen Zhengwei acted as if nothing had happened.

Hearing this, DePierlavette's heart tightened.

Could it be that the thing he was most worried about had happened?
"Mr. Chen..."

"The British envoy warned me not to sell supplies to you!" Chen Zhengwei spread his hands: "I never thought that in the capital of Peru, the British envoy would come to warn me not to sell supplies to Peru!"

"They don't take you seriously at all, and they really want you Peru to die?"

"I can't stand this! How did you endure it? You even kept the British ambassador in Lima!"

(End of this chapter)