The arrogance started from Chinatown

Chapter 711 What Qualifications Do You Have to Negotiate with Me?

"Go to the prefectural government office to talk? I'm going to talk to them? Don't they take themselves too seriously?" Chen Zhengwei raised his eyebrows and sneered when he heard what Ma Zai said.

"Let them come to the ship and talk!"

"If you are not satisfied with the talks, just throw them into the sea!"

"Tell them that, except for the negotiators, all the guards are waiting downstairs!"

"Brother Wei, do you want to arrange someone to scare them?" asked the henchman.

"That's a good idea! Let the Warrior fire a salute to them! Towards the south!" said Chen Zhengwei.

I don't know where the artillery fire will hit.

Whoever gets caught in this trouble will be unlucky!

A moment later, Nguyen Trong Ha and Duke Nguyen Phuc Hong Yi of Lang arrived at the dock after receiving the news.

With a little light in the sky, you can see several huge ships docked in the port.

Ruan Zhonghe's eyes swept across the steel behemoths, and he felt that these ships were much more majestic than the French warships.

This is the battleship in the newspaper!

After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and boarded the ship with Nguyen Phuc Hong Yi, Duke of Lang, and an official from the Ministry of Rites.

Once on the boat, we saw two rows of Chinese men in hunting suits, carrying guns.

You don't even need to look at the weapons. Just look at the confidence and toughness these people exude, as well as the ferocity in their eyes, and you will know that these people are no match for the Vietnamese army.

The only thing that made him feel uncomfortable was the way these people looked him up and down, full of mockery.

"Nguyen Trung Ha, the Minister of Personnel of the Nguyen Dynasty, and Nguyen Phuc Hong Yi, Duke of Lang, came to visit Mr. Chen to discuss matters regarding this friction!" Nguyen Trung Ha clasped his hands together and spoke directly in Chinese.

"The boss is waiting for you inside! But he also wants you to watch a fun show!" A thug walked up to the two of them.

After saying that, he took out his pistol and fired three shots into the air. The gunshots were deafening.

However, as the gunshots were heard, the Warrior, which was anchored not far away, opened one side of its hull, revealing its gun muzzles.

boom!
Dozens of cannons fired one after another, and the Warrior was immediately pushed to one side.

However, the power of those dozens of artillery pieces firing at the same time was extremely astonishing, like an overwhelming tidal wave.

Nguyen Phuc Hong Yi, who came with Nguyen Trong He, suddenly turned pale and his legs trembled.

"This is a salute to welcome you!" the henchman said with a smile, looking the two of them up and down before turning around and walking inside.

"follow me!"

Nguyen Phuc Hong Yi only felt his legs go weak and he had no strength at all. He knocked his legs hard and barely managed to follow.

The thugs around him immediately burst into mocking laughter.

If all officials are like this, you can imagine what the Vietnamese are like.

Several people were brought into the cabin, which had thick carpets on the floor and oil lamps hanging on the walls, illuminating the luxury of the cabin. There were also some tall and beautiful waitresses passing by from time to time.

The three were brought to the reception room, where they saw a man who looked like a bear standing in front of a painting.

Just the back view brought huge pressure to the three of them.

And the painting he was looking at was full of Japanese style.

"Boss, I brought it!"

"What do you think is good about this painting?" Chen Zhengwei asked without turning his head.

"Mr. Chen, we don't understand paintings, but anything that can be hung here must be extraordinary!" Ruan Zhonghe complimented.

"I don't understand either. I stole it from the Japanese Imperial Palace! I've been looking at it for so long, but I don't see anything good about it!" Chen Zhengwei laughed heartily and turned to grin at the others:
"It doesn't matter if I don't understand. If it's hanging in the Japanese Imperial Palace, it must be a good thing. I'll just grab it!"

"Do you think so?"

How could the three of them not understand what Chen Zhengwei meant? They were all silent for a while.

"Why aren't you talking? Are you three dissatisfied with me?"

"Mr. Chen has misunderstood... I just thought about my current situation and felt sad for a moment!" Ruan Zhonghe had a sad look on his face.

"Look at it brightly. Japan has given money, so it's not a loss for you to give too!" Chen Zhengwei laughed.

He seldom comforts anyone.

Chen Zhengwei sat directly on the sofa, crossed his legs and looked at the three people: "Did you bring the money?"

"Mr. Chen, Vietnam's national strength is weak, and the court is spending more than it earns. It really cannot come up with 300 million US dollars!" said Nguyen Trong Hup.

"It doesn't matter if you can't get it!" Chen Zhengwei waved his hand and sneered, "I'll go to Hue to get it myself! Even if the palace is not enough, there are so many aristocratic families, we can always get enough!"

The three of them looked slightly disappointed when they heard this.

"Mr. Chen, we have never had any grudges against each other, and we have never offended anyone. Why do you treat us like this?" Ruan Zhonghe pleaded.

"You hit my boat!" Chen Zhengwei smiled. "My boat is very expensive!"

Then waved.

"Enough of the nonsense, just throw them into the sea!"

"Give them some burden!" The thug immediately wanted to drag the three people away.

"Mr. Chen, we come to meet you with sincerity!" Ruan Zhonghe said.

"Vietnam is truly weak. Even if they put all their efforts into it, they can only come up with 46 taels of silver!"

"But His Majesty has already given me the order to use Haiphong Port as collateral! Haiphong Port is the estuary of the Red River. Through Haiphong Port, we can conduct trade on both sides of the Red River, and even go deep into Yunnan, the Qing Dynasty! I believe Mr. Chen can understand the value of Haiphong Port!"

"I'm not interested. It's just a river port. Even if I collect taxes for a hundred years, I may not be able to earn back all this!" Chen Zhengwei sneered.

He doesn't have much business in Vietnam, and he doesn't plan to expand his business to both sides of the Red River.

Seeing that the henchmen were already dragging Lang Guogong Nguyen Phuc Hongyi out, Nguyen Phuc Hongyi hurriedly shouted: "Haiphong Port is not okay, how about Quang An Port? We can also add Hongji Coal Mine!"

He was really frightened by Chen Zhengwei's attitude.

He had never seen anyone as vicious as Chen Zhengwei.

Even the French who invaded Vietnam were not as vicious as Chen Zhengwei.

"Mr. Chen, Guang'an Port is a deep-water port. We can mortgage Guang'an Port to Mr. Chen! I believe it will be of great value to Mr. Chen!"

"And Hongji Coal Mine is also a large open-pit coal mine in the north. It is easy to mine, and the quality of the coal mined is also very high!" Ruan Zhonghe sighed secretly and then spoke.

He actually hoped to mortgage Haiphong Port to Chen Zhengwei.

Haiphong Port is the French's main target, and it is also close to the Central Vietnam area. If it is mortgaged to Chen Zhengwei, Chen Zhengwei will serve as a barrier to stop the French.

Chen Zhengwei waved his hand, signaling his men to let the three people go first.

"Coal mine? How much can be mined in a year?" Chen Zhengwei asked calmly.

He had long known about the situation in Haiphong Port and Guang'an Port, and he also got a map of Vietnam in Hong Kong.

But he really didn't know much about this coal mine.

Although the United States has no shortage of coal mines, coal mines are strategic materials at this time.

You have to know that steamships need coal to sail.

It is also possible to capture the market in Hong Kong, which is the trade center of Southeast Asia.

The henchman's hand loosened, and Nguyen Phuc Hong Yi felt his legs go limp. He held onto the wall and said quickly, "Hongji Coal Mine can produce 10000 tons of coal every year, and that's just using hoes to mine and baskets to pull! Hongji Coal Mine is easy to mine, and with a little investment, the output can be ten times higher!"

"Oh?" Chen Zhengwei was finally interested this time.

10000 tons per year is not a lot. The current international coal price is about US$3 per ton, which is only US$3 per year.

(The French controlled the coal trade at the Hongji Mine, paying only $1 per ton.)
Even if it were to expand tenfold, the annual output would only be $30.

But this thing can control the coal market in Hong Kong. If it directly occupies the coal market in Hong Kong, and we don’t sell coal to you, you won’t even be able to sail your ship out of the port.

That has some value.

But he said slowly: "Do you know how much money I can make in a year if I invest 230 million US dollars? Ten times the profit!"

"A coal mine with an annual output of 230 tons, plus a broken port, is like mortgaging $ million? Are you crazy?"

"But since you're so poor, I can't make things difficult for you! Haiphong Port, Guang'an Port, and the Hongji Coal Mine can barely cover this debt!"

"Mr. Chen, you know the value of the port better than me. It is definitely not calculated in this way! The location of Haiphong Port and the scope of trade it can influence cannot be calculated simply by money!" Ruan Zhonghe immediately explained.

"Your words don't count. What I say counts here! If I say this is enough, then this is enough!"

"I said these are only worth 1 dollar, so they are only worth 1 dollar!" Chen Zhengwei said confidently, crossing his legs.

"Don't think I don't know what you are thinking! You want me to help you stop the French? That's a good idea! Do you really think I am stupid?" Chen Zhengwei raised his eyebrows and sneered.

"If I want to take Hue, it won't take me more than half a day from the beginning to the end. You don't think you can stop them, do you? The French have already occupied Cochinchina and are invading Tonkin. If I attack Hue, do you think Vietnam will still exist?"

"I am willing to talk to you now because I am giving you a chance! You still have to say thank you to me!"

"If Mr. Chen is willing to help us resist France, we are willing to mortgage both ports to Mr. Chen!" Ruan Zhonghe gritted his teeth.

Now that things have come to this, there is no need for him to hide anything.

"What are you dreaming about?" Chen Zhengwei sneered. "Why don't I cooperate with France and destroy your country!"

"What do you think of this idea?"

Ruan Zhonghe's face turned pale. All his original plans had now failed.

"You only have two choices now. Mortgage the two ports and the coal mines to me for 99 years, and then I will return them to you! As for how to deal with them before returning them to you, it is my problem!"

"Or I will fight you together with the French! The reason why the French didn't invade Central Vietnam is because they don't want to start a full-scale war! But I don't care, I can help them! And then they will pay me!"

"Tell me, what qualifications do you have to negotiate with me?"

Chen Zhengwei pointed his finger at Ruan Zhonghe without any hesitation.

In fact, Vietnam is now in constant rebellion, and the local governments only obey orders from the imperial court and not its decrees. It is basically a mess.

But Chen Zhengwei was too lazy to mention these things!

His attitude is, either agree to my request, or I will beat you!

(End of this chapter)