Gravedigger of the Empire

"Hello! My name is Lin Shoucheng, and I am a businessman." Seeing Kahn come out, the man took off his top hat and extended his hand.

Kahn noticed that the other man's hair was already gray, but his face did not look like that of an elderly man.

This man has some premature gray hair, but he's probably in his forties or fifties, so it's not particularly "premature".

He lowered his eyes to look at the outstretched hand. Although he was very excited, Kahn managed to hide his feelings very well.

Although he longed to hug the people from his hometown and to speak a few words with them in Chinese.

However, he restrained himself from acting impulsively and extended his hand to shake the other person's hand lightly: "Sir businessman, what can I do for you?"

"We want to talk business here...?" Lin Shoucheng smiled and gestured, indicating that it was somewhat inappropriate to talk business in front of the Kahn Investigation Bureau.

Kahn nodded and looked at the soldier on guard: "Come with me... Is it alright?"

"Of course!" The guards immediately let them through.

So Kahn led Lin Shoucheng to his office.

As he climbed the steps at the gate, he glanced at his car. His driver, Sebastian, was carrying a bucket of water and walking away into the distance, an attitude that pleased Kahn greatly.

Putting aside the issue of the driver's loyalty, his competence is acceptable.

After mentally giving Sebastian a passing grade, Kahn pushed open the door to his office.

He casually gestured for Lin Shoucheng behind him to find a place to sit: "Now you can talk, right? What did you want to see me about?"

"I'm in the steel business," Lin Shoucheng said naturally as he sat down on Kahn's new sofa.

These two sofas aren't new; they were only recently delivered to Kahn's office.

In reality, Lieutenant Colonel McConnell replaced the sofas with a new pair, and the old ones were sent to Kahn.

Anyway, since it was the lieutenant colonel who took care of it, no matter how envious others are, it's useless.

"Germany has the best steel in the world," he said, looking at Kahn and offering a compliment.

Kahn also gleaned some basic information from the other party's words.

In 1921 China, a merchant who could participate in the steel import business was definitely quite "capitalized".

"This is the Defense Forces Investigation Bureau, which doesn't seem to have much to do with steel exports." Kahn sat back down in his seat, tilting his head and staring at the other person.

"I'll get straight to the point." Lin Shoucheng nodded and stopped beating around the bush: "Part of my business is rather special. A friend of mine introduced me to Major Joe from England."

"Well, after I spoke with Major Joe, he said I should get to know you." He briefly explained the connections he had made.

"Looks like you've spent a lot of money." Kahn knew that for Major Joe to reveal his connection, the other party must have expended a considerable amount of money.

"Yes, so I don't intend to waste this opportunity," Lin Shoucheng said bluntly.

"Major Joe, I... let me guess, your business... it's probably related to arms, isn't it?" Kahn leaned back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand.

"Yes, I need a shipment of weapons to be transported to Hong Kong." Lin Shoucheng was there to ask for a favor, so he naturally had to state his purpose.

"You know about the arms embargo, right? Selling weapons to Asia is a big taboo." Kahn didn't agree immediately.

Even though he really wanted to agree, he still had to be cautious.

After all, he didn't know who the weapons were being sold to, nor did he know if he would be aiding and abetting evil.

"Just like you said, if everything is compliant and legal, I wouldn't need to come here, would I?" Lin Shoucheng smiled.

He stood up, walked to Kahn's desk, bent down, and leaned close to Kahn: "I need a shipment of weapons, for smuggling!"

"May I ask, to whom do you intend to hand over these weapons?" Kahn still showed no sign of agreeing.

"You're interested in this?" Lin Shoucheng was surprised that a mere German guard lieutenant would ask about China.

"Cooperation always requires mutual trust. I'm curious to know whether the person who came to me... is worth the risk." Kahn stared into the other person's eyes, expressionless.

In 1921 China, warlords were everywhere, good people were few and far between, and "bad people" were practically everywhere. Kahn had no intention of giving gifts to some guys he didn't like.

Lin Shoucheng did not avoid Kahn's gaze. He remained silent, hesitating about how to proceed.

He felt that even if he made up a person, Kahn would never know.

But he was also worried that Kahn was asking the question because Kahn knew something about China.

If he lies, the foundation of cooperation between the two parties will completely collapse, a consequence he is unwilling to bear.

However, he couldn't guarantee that the person standing behind him would satisfy Kahn.

If Kahn doesn't support that person, wouldn't he also be wasting this opportunity?

In the end, after hesitating for a long time, he decided to take a gamble and see what Kahn's attitude was: "I don't know if you understand Asia or know about faraway China... but I serve Mr. Sun, who has just taken office as the Extraordinary President and urgently needs to expand his power."

Kahn paused for a moment, then nodded: "I do have a vague impression of this Mr. Sun."

"He's a good person, and seems to have a high reputation in China." He feigned nonchalance, but had actually already made his decision: "I think there won't be any problems with our cooperation."

"Ah, that's really... great!" Lin Shoucheng breathed a sigh of relief. He really hadn't expected that the other party actually knew a little about China.

"Now we can talk about what exactly you want," Kahn said, adopting a business-like attitude.

"Rifles, Mauser rifles! Mauser pistols... you know, the Mauser combat pistols! I want them all!" Lin Shoucheng looked very professional.

What he wanted were the most sought-after German weapons, which would be very popular in Asia.

In fact, Lin Shoucheng had no other choice: Mauser was now under strict supervision, and it was impossible for the new weapons it produced to enter the smuggling market on a large scale.

That's why he reluctantly turned his attention to the old weapons that were waiting to be destroyed.

"Mauser combat pistol..." Kahn nodded; he knew this weapon was very famous in China.

It actually has many names: Mirror Box, Box Cannon, Fast and Slow, Twenty Shots... Although they are different, they all refer to this type of pistol and its extended models.

"Just rifles and pistols?" he suddenly asked.

"Huh?" Lin Shoucheng was taken aback, not understanding why the other party would ask such a question.

"Maxim guns, submachine guns, field artillery... not interested?" Kahn decided to give the other party a little... shock of German industry.