Spy game? Stop guessing, I really am an undercover agent!

Chapter 173 You don't have the final say, no, he does.
The golden cascade of crystal chandeliers enveloped the Peacock Hall of the Cathay Hotel, and the cigar smoke and champagne bubbles floating in the air seemed to freeze at that moment.

Princess Elsa stood in the center of the banquet hall, having just announced in a voice clear enough to pierce the lingering notes of a jazz band: "The transfer fee for the penicillin patent is one hundred million pounds."

This figure was astronomical in the world in 1938.

At the time, the most advanced B-17 bomber in the United States cost only $200,000 per unit, and £100 million was enough to build a strategic air force of 2,000 aircraft.

If placed on the Chinese battlefield, it could make the Japanese soldiers question their existence.

In the same year, the UK's national budget was only £630 million.

One hundred million pounds would take up almost half a quarter of the British Empire's budget.

More importantly, penicillin was still a mysterious substance in the laboratory at this time. Although Fleming accidentally discovered the bactericidal effect of Penicillium in 1928, he shelved the research because he could not purify it.

It wasn't until April 1936 that Florey and Chain of the University of Sheffield restarted the project, still a huge gap from mass production.

The fact that a drug with no known future would be priced like this made everyone think Princess Elsa had gone mad.

Even Chen Yang was shocked by her offer—one hundred million pounds! Aside from the Sichuan-Chongqing region of China, he had never seen a 1 followed by so many zeros before…

Of course, Elsa's confidence stemmed from the classified document numbered "U-38-09-14".

The Utrecht laboratory in the Netherlands conducted a detailed examination of the latest strain sample sent by Taylor. After evaluation, the high-yield strain cultivated by Professor Florey's team has a purification efficiency that is three hundred times that of Fleming's original sample.

In other words, this drug has broken through the bottleneck period, and the current research direction is the technology for large-scale cultivation and mass production.

This requires a report from Dr. Chain, a chemistry PhD.

However, the University of Sheffield suspended its research funding for penicillin.

Chain's work was also put on hold.

After studying the evaluation report, Elsa knew that what she held in her hands was not a drug patent, but the "pricing power of life" on the future battlefield...

It's worth noting that during the Normandy landings in 1944, 100,000 doses of penicillin reduced the Allied casualty mortality rate by 35%.

The silence seemed to last forever, but it was quickly broken by a voice: "My God, this is robbery!"

Sir Carl, the British Consul General in Shanghai, cried out, whiskey seeping through his trembling fingers onto his white gloves.

The British Imperial Medical Research Council had an annual budget of less than one million pounds, and Fleming, as a British citizen, should rightfully have his discoveries attributed to the Empire.

What angered him even more was the princess's betrayal. The Dutch royal family and the British royal family are connected by blood, and such a significant discovery should have been shared with the British royal family.

But now she's raising the price arbitrarily, actually wanting to sell it for a sky-high price of 100 million.

The despicable Dutch...

Karl quickly composed himself, slamming his glass down on the waiter's tray. He took a step forward, the Imperial Medal on his tailcoat clinking softly. "Does Your Highness recall that Sir Fleming's dissertation lies quietly in the archives of St. Mary's Hospital?"

"Without the basic research by British scientists, the mold in the University of Sheffield's lab would be nothing more than moldy melons!"

“That should have been our achievement. Moreover, the heritage of the civilized world should not be turned into a commercial bargaining chip.”

"The Royal Navy of the British Empire would never allow a single germ to leave British soil."

Sure enough, scientific ethics is nothing more than a respectable fig leaf; the Royal Navy gunboats in the North Atlantic are the ultimate bargaining chip.

The ash from the cigar of Maddilon, a director of the Asiatic Petroleum Company, fell in a flurry.

This tycoon, who controls the lifeline of Far East energy, is not thinking about penicillin patents at this moment, but rather about "oil field equity conversion formulas".

“One hundred million pounds?” He swallowed hard, forcing a cold laugh. “That’s enough to buy Shell’s 147 newly discovered oil wells in Myanmar and Indonesia!” “However, Your Highness, I think you’ve overlooked a very crucial issue.”

Maddillan said, word by word, "Production capacity."

As a businessman, Maddilron instantly saw through the fatal flaw in the princess's plan: patents have value, but production capacity is priceless.

In 1943, the United States, with all its national resources, could only produce enough medicine to treat 150,000 people, while the daily casualties on the battlefield during World War II exceeded 7,000.

Maddilon stubbed out his cigar, his fat fingers tracing a line through the air: "Your Highness, what you're selling isn't medicine, it's alchemy."

“But please tell me…” he deliberately drew out his words, “how many factories in the Netherlands can produce 10,000 liters of fermentation tanks a day? And how many cargo ships can evade U-boats to transport medicines out of Europe?”

Maddilron's question went straight to the heart of the matter.

At this point, the Netherlands was already within range of German bombers. If they didn't cooperate with Germany, the consequences would be...

However, if they abandon their homeland and establish their base in the Dutch colony of Java.

The rubber plantations there simply cannot abandon rubber, a strategic resource, and transform into biopharmaceutical companies.

Maddil's sarcasm drew a nod from Wall Street representative Sempes, after all, capital only believes in miracles that can be converted into cash.

Once this question was raised, everyone immediately realized that patents do not equal production capacity. Having a patent but not being able to monetize it means that the patent is not as valuable as imagined.

Elsa's face suddenly turned pale. She seemed not to have considered this issue, but everyone present was a business tycoon, and their considerations were far from superficial.

Chen Yang stepped forward, patted Elsa's hand, and said, "Your Highness, don't panic, I've already solved this problem for you."

"However, I also think the £100 million you mentioned is unreasonable."

“I suggest you sell penicillin patent licenses to all countries, with a five-year contract and an annual fee of two million pounds.”

“If we buy out the patent license for 20 years in one go, then we can offer a 25% discount, making it 30 million pounds.”

Maddilon glanced at Chen Yang and couldn't help but sneer, "Who do you think you are? You think you can just say three thousand and call it a day? This is business, not child's play."

Elsa smiled slightly and replied, "That's right, if he says three thousand, then it's three thousand."

"Ladies and gentlemen, I forgot to introduce you. This is Mr. Chen Yang."

"He is my partner, and also my..."

"Advisor, private advisor." Before Elsa could even finish saying "boss," Chen Yang interrupted her.

“Yes, a personal consultant.” Elsa looked at Chen Yang with a charming smile, her face seemingly radiating a woman’s happiness.

The men present were all extremely surprised. This was a legitimate private consultant! Look at his rosy lips, white teeth, and delicate skin, could he be Elsa's little puppy?

It's not unusual for Queen Wilhelmina to have male lovers, so it's not unacceptable for Princess Elsa to have a couple of Eastern male lovers.

German Consul Felmann said coldly, "Mr. Chen, is that right? I'd like to know what gives you the right?"

Chen Yang raised his hand to check the time: "Mr. Fairman, I think it's about time."

"The distinguished guest I invited should have arrived by now."

As soon as the words were spoken, the banquet hall doors suddenly opened, and several figures hurriedly walked in...

(End of this chapter)