Nanyang Storm 1864

Chapter 126 Equipment List
The American Consulate was located in the Legation Quarter in Dongjiaomin Lane, Xicheng District, while the Wanguo Tongbao Trading Company was located in Dongcheng District, where the agreed meeting place was also.

The carriage went east along the avenue. There were many pedestrians on the road, and there were also many jumping children, holding windmills or donkey rolls in their hands, smiling brightly.

Arriving at a crossroads

The carriage suddenly turned to the north. At the intersection, there was a middle-aged man in a tattered cotton jacket roasting sweet potatoes. While doing business, he pretended to glance behind the carriage to see if there was anyone following him.

This is the secret post set up in advance. Zheng Guohui sent several plainclothes soldiers from the Yebushou group to set up three secret posts in this area. This is just one of them.

The carriage turned onto this relatively narrow road and stopped at the door of a church after a while.

Zheng Guohui got out of the car, wearing a large cotton hat with wool lining on his head. He lowered his head and walked directly to the alley next to the church.

The alleys of Beijing
It is as dense as a spider web. Outsiders who are not familiar with the local alleys will definitely get confused if they come in.

Zheng Guohui walked to the alley in front and turned a corner. There was already a personal soldier waiting there. He took the woolen coat that Zheng Guohui took off and put it on. He was wearing the same woolen hat on his head and his figure was similar to Zheng Guohui.

Zheng Guohui took off his woolen coat and continued walking forward, while the personal soldier lowered his head and returned to the carriage.

At the entrance of this alley
There was a man sitting on a stool shouting "Sharpening scissors, sharpening kitchen knives...", and not far away there was a peddler carrying a load, walking towards him slowly.

This is the second hidden stake. The peddler would walk back and forth in this alley with his load on his shoulder, watching with the knife sharpener to see if there was anyone following him.

If there is, then tie him up quietly.

Zheng Guohui walked around the alley a few times and soon came out from another street. He looked like a scholar wearing a green cotton robe and had his mouth and nose tightly wrapped with a scarf.

After coming out of the street
Zheng Guohui's eyes intentionally swept over a few idle men across the street. Some of them were sitting in the breakfast shop eating leisurely, and some were strolling along the street with their hands tucked into their sleeves. This was the third hidden stake set up here.

Seeing the general's gaze looking at them, these idle men pretended to lift the hem of their cotton-padded jackets with their hands unintentionally, which was a signal that they did not notice anything unusual.

If there is any abnormality, you should lift the middle part of the front of the jacket with your hand.

Zheng Guohui walked a few steps along the street, then quickly climbed onto a donkey cart parked on the side of the road and got into the warm sedan.

The driver didn't ask any questions and just shouted at the animals to move forward. The idle men on the street followed from a distance.

The donkey cart went all the way to the gate of the Wan Guo Tong Bao Bank. The red-headed Ah San who was maintaining order stretched out his hand to stop it. Only to see a piece of foreign letter paper with a stamp on it sticking out from the curtain of the sedan chair.

Seeing this, the red-headed Asan didn't ask any questions and immediately opened the door, letting the donkey cart go straight in. It was obvious that instructions had been given in advance.

"My dear friend, welcome. I am always happy to see you. You are our distinguished guest." Consul Smith had been standing at the door downstairs and welcomed him warmly.

Zheng Guohui walked up to him and shook his hand, saying with equal enthusiasm, "I, too, look forward to meeting you, distinguished Consul. I must emphasize that I am not bringing any banknotes with me this time."

"Hahaha... I like your sense of humor, which is exactly the quality that Oriental people lack. Dear Zheng, let me introduce you to two directors of the Wan Guo Tong Bao Bank, which you call "taiban" here."

"Oh, I'm honored."

"This is Mr. Harvey Simmons from England. He's a Scotsman who joined the United States before the war. He's now been appointed head of the Asia region for the Wan Guo Tong Bao Company. Of course, this Asia region doesn't include the Governor-General's Office in India."

"Nice to meet you. My last name is Zheng Jinghai. You can call me Mr. Zheng."

"Mr. Smith has mentioned it many times. He didn't expect Mr. Zheng to be so young. I have high expectations for our long-term cooperation in the future and am willing to serve you." Mr. Harvey Simmons is tall and thin, with a very conspicuous hooked nose and sharp eyes, like a vulture.

Mr. Smith went on to introduce the next person, a white man with blond hair of medium build. He bowed slightly with a cold expression, and Zheng Guohui also nodded in a friendly manner.

"This is Mr. Gravenberch, from an unknown bishopric in the Southern German Confederation. You don't need to know the details. My God, it's such a mess there. Napoleon made a mess of it." Mr. Smith joked as usual.

Mr. Gravenberch was displeased and retorted directly, "Americans, you must learn to respect Europe's history. It's the center of the world stage, with a long and fascinating history. America, on the other hand, is a rough and tumble cowboy nation, and it's only been around for a few decades."

"Okay, dear Zheng, I take back what I said just now. Not all Europeans understand humor." Smith spread his hands helplessly and added;

"This Mr. Gravenberch works for the Wan Guo Tong Bao Company, but he's still European. He has a small stake in the bank, but you don't have to worry about it, because it's really only a small amount."

After this introduction, Mr. Gravenberch's face turned even darker. This was obviously a sabotage.

Fortunately, the two did not argue further. After exchanging a few words, they walked into the office in the building together.

"God, in this cursed cold winter, have a glass of whiskey to warm yourself up. Believe me, it is your best friend and will never betray you at any time." Smith's face was red and blue with cold. After returning to the warm room, he rubbed his hands vigorously and snapped his fingers.

A butler in a white waiter's uniform opened the bottle, poured out four glasses, and brought them over on a tray.

"Cheers to our successful cooperation and bright future!"

"Well said, cheers!"

After picking up the cup and taking a sip, the servant quietly retreated and closed the door, leaving them the space for the conversation.

After the greetings, they got down to business.

Smith put down his glass and said;
"I just received the latest diplomatic email yesterday. Joe Smith's work in ordering supplies on the West Coast is progressing very smoothly, far beyond our imagination.

According to the current plan, the fleet should gather in batches at the Port of Los Angeles at some point in mid-to-late March, preparing to head south and cross the Pacific Ocean.

Mr. Zheng, you must prepare no less than 800 qualified crew members to arrive at the Port of Los Angeles by the end of March at the latest to participate in this unprecedented trans-Pacific voyage.

Let me take a look at the information..."

Smith picked up some letters from the diplomatic mail on the table and saw that there were more than a dozen lists of supplies. The division between those that had been ordered and those that were under negotiation was very clear and looked clear at a glance.

Smith found the items about ships and read on, "Joe Smith hired no fewer than 420 experienced sailors to bring these ships to the Los Angeles harbor in batches, waiting for your crew to join him.

so far
乔-史密斯已经敲定了800~1000吨三桅大帆船9艘，500~800吨双桅大帆船13艘，另外还有10多艘四五百吨的双桅帆船。

Don’t worry, these sailboats are very well priced and won’t break your budget by much?
Of course, there are also those four ironclad battleships.

I have sent your additional order back to North America along with the diplomatic mail. If you act quickly, it should be able to arrive in time.

If we really can't make it in time, that's fine, we can put it in the second batch of goods. Now I want to know, dear Zheng, will you have any problems with manpower?"

Zheng Guohui raised his whiskey glass in a gesture and replied decisively, "No problem, Mr. Smith. My crew set sail two weeks ago. We've loaded three ships with a total of 1200 tons of copper ingots. We have about a thousand experienced crew members."

"Oh, great! This will be another successful deal." Mr. Harvey Simmons couldn't help but interject.

Everyone knows
The United States is now a major consumer of minerals. Although it has extremely rich copper resources, the vast western part of the United States has a sparse population and a serious shortage of labor.

Even if there are copper mines, they cannot be mined, let alone produced.

This has led to high prices for copper raw materials needed for industry. Chile in South America is the main country exporting copper ore to the United States because Chile itself does not have copper smelting capabilities.

Copper ore is worthless, only two or three dollars a ton.

Sailing ships transporting copper ore traveled between North and South America, often carrying slaves for sale to supplement their profits.

Today, a ton of pure copper ingots shipped to North America is worth as much as US$220 to US$230, and a shipload of cargo is worth more than US$.

1200 tons of copper ingots are worth between $26 and $27, equivalent to 52000 pounds, or nearly 30 taels of silver, which is a huge sum of money.

Whether in Europe or North America, high-quality copper ingots are the main raw material for minting copper coins, and their value is almost equal to the weight of the coins.

As long as the copper ingots are shipped to North America, we can sell as many as we can. There is no need to worry about selling them, and the price is quite good.

After talking for a while

Zheng Guohui took out another list from his body. This was the second batch of equipment to be purchased, including steel mill equipment, mining equipment, shipyard equipment, various machine tools and heavy industrial equipment such as steam hammers, textile equipment, and some chemical equipment.

Almost all the machines and equipment that have emerged in today's steam industrial civilization are listed here.

After Smith received the list, his expression became serious. After looking at it for a while, he silently passed it to Mr. Harvey Simmons, and it finally fell into the hands of Mr. Gravenberch.

Mr. Gravenberch looked very carefully, taking almost an incense stick of time, before he raised his head with a serious expression.

"To be honest, I can't assess the value of this list.

His projects are too many and too complex, and his appetite is too big.

I doubt whether the Orientals can make good use of these devices, which are the latest achievements of industrial development in the world today and represent the power of Europe.

Even in the countries of the North German Federation, it is impossible to gather a complete set of the equipment listed on your list, let alone make an accurate quotation and procurement plan.

Forgive me, but I think this is more than you need.”

"These devices are worth millions of dollars. The question now is, do you want to make this money?" Zheng Guohui did not dwell on the other party's contemptuous tone, but went straight to the point.

What is an American?
Today's American capitalists are recognized by Europeans as economic animals. They are typical money-hungry people. They can put national interests aside and their primary goal is to expand the market.

Zheng Guohui's words made Smith's eyes light up, and he immediately broke free from his brief hesitation.

Yes, why not make millions of dollars?
The poor people on the streets of New York will kill for five dollars, and those conscientious factory owners will sell their conscience for a few thousand dollars.

As a diplomat with moral bottom line and great ambitions, he would also be defeated by 10 US dollars, let alone a business worth millions of dollars?

Even if it means poking a hole in the world, Smith is willing to rush to the front. Damn any concerns, there is nothing sweeter than the charming US dollar.

Zheng Guohui doesn't have that much money now, so he sent out this equipment list mainly for the purpose of asking for prices.

If there are some suitable bankrupt factories, the equipment can be dismantled and shipped back. It will be new for three years, old for three years, and then patched up for another three years. As long as it can be used, it's fine.

The machines and equipment of this era were all clumsy, heavy, and clumsy, even the most advanced steam engines were like that.

It is not something that ordinary people can do to break down these devices.

In the next 3 to 5 years
As long as these machines and equipment can be put in place one after another, there is no need to pursue strong timeliness. If there happens to be a bankrupt shipyard, steel mill, blast furnace or other factory, just buy the entire factory.

Zheng Guohui sent some representatives to San Francisco to work with Joe Johnson to complete a series of matters including acquisition, disassembly, packaging, shipping, etc., and the two sides completed the task in close cooperation.

Now that the war is over, a large amount of military demand has receded. There will always be some factories that expanded blindly during the war and will be left stranded on the beach. This is a good opportunity for acquisition!

We had a simple working lunch at noon, and then in the afternoon we continued to have closed-door discussions.

It was not until after 4 o'clock that Mr. Harvey Simmons and Zheng Guohui walked out side by side. Both of them had smiles on their faces and were very satisfied with the negotiated cooperation.

It is not just the two phases of cooperation at hand, but a package agreement regarding the equipment list, American technical workers and engineers to install the equipment, trial operation and subsequent employment, maintenance, and guaranteed training.

There was even an intention to open a technical school, but due to time constraints, we were unable to discuss it in detail.

Everything depends on the successful completion of the first transaction. If everything goes according to plan, the vanguard fleet will arrive in Mindanao around May, which is earlier than scheduled.

The original regulations stated that the latest arrival time would be no later than June, which was considered acceptable efficiency.

Several people accompanied Zheng Guohui to the yard, watched him get into the cotton curtain of the donkey cart, and left leisurely.

Mr. Gravenberch was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Gentlemen, is this Oriental man planning something we are unaware of? Shouldn't we be more cautious?"

"No... but we should be bolder." Mr. Harvey Simmons answered very straightforwardly. He turned around, shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, and continued in an extremely firm tone;
"It's not easy to come across such a big client. We need to make more money before Mr. Zheng fails. As for where he uses these devices, even if it's to forge weapons for the devil, that's not my concern.

Listen, man, we are not saviors, nor are we priests spreading the gospel, we are just ordinary businessmen.

Businessmen want to make money, what's wrong with that?"

Smith echoed the sentiment, saying, "Okay, count me in. I unconditionally support Mr. Xavi Simmons. What he means is what I mean. There's no need to worry about problems that don't belong to you."

Seeing them all express their opinions in this way, Mr. Gravenberch continued to keep a dead face and remained silent.

(End of this chapter)