America 1881: They Call Me Legend

As the first grandson of Queen Victoria, William II came to the Queen's birthday celebration this time.

Of course, his purpose of coming to England across the sea is not as simple as participating in the celebration.

In the delegation following William, there are leaders from all walks of life.

They are here to discuss business.

After hearing that a new type of weapon had come out in Kent, William brought a few people over to visit.

His body was still full of the arrogance of the European royal family, and his expression was arrogant and indifferent.

His question just now was also not directed at Chen Jianqiu, but at Ma Keqin.

Obviously, he also regarded the Chinese next to him as Maxim's assistant.

"Yes, Your Royal Highness, we are willing to accept orders from the European continent." Maxim said respectfully.

"I want to purchase a batch of guards to equip my grandfather. For specific matters, you can talk to Mr. Alfred Krupp."

After saying this, William winked at a white-haired old man next to him, then turned and left.

Mr. Krupp walked up to Maxim and exchanged something with him in a low voice.

After all the visitors had left, Ma Keqin reported to Chen Jianqiu what Krupp had communicated with him.

"He made an appointment for us to meet at the German Chamber of Commerce in London in three days' time."

Chen Jianqiu was a little puzzled.

Why did the German royal family or the military purchase things, and the person they talked to was Krupp?

In the end, it was Churchill who answered the question for him.

The Krupp arsenal is huge and has a lot of ties to the German royal family.

Their artillery gave Prussia victory in the Franco-Prussian War.

They can now be regarded as the cornerstone of German royal arms dealers and German militarism.

If you want to do arms business in Germany, you can't get around them.

There were still three days until negotiations with the Germans.

But the British order came first.

The next afternoon, Sir Andrew Clark, Inspector of Fortifications of the British Government, came to the military factory.

He told Maxim:

After a full assessment, the British government decided to purchase ten machine guns first.

Regarding business, Ma Keqin decided to let Chen Jianqiu come by himself.

At that time, there were no invisible earphones, and Chen Jianqiu did not know how to transmit sound in his head.

It's really not decent for Maxim to run around as a microphone.

So, Chen Jianqiu, who was wearing a black cloth robe, came to Clark.

"This is the real boss of the military factory." Maxim introduced to Clark, "the most influential Chinese in the United States."

Clark's first reaction was that Ma Keqin didn't want to talk to him, so he found a trustee.

He only knows one influential Chinese: Li Zhongtang.

But firstly, the man is an old man in his sixties, and secondly, it is said that the man has a braid on the back of his head. In addition, in terms of arms, that man only buys from Britain, France and Germany, so there is no reason to sell his own weapons.

Obviously this young man is not Li Zhongtang.

When he was still wondering, Chen Jianqiu had already spoken first.

"Just ten?"

Fluent in American English.

"Yes, we need to conduct full experiments and comparisons before deciding whether to place further orders." Sir Clark replied.

Chen Jianqiu spent the night with Ma Keqin yesterday estimating the cost of mass production of machine guns, which is about 100 pounds per machine (author's note: about 14000 US dollars at present).

"Well, you don't buy much, how about I sell you 300 pounds each?" Chen Jianqiu reported a figure.

"Okay, no problem." In Clark's view, the price was not too high.

"How about I give you another 2000 rounds of bullets each?" Chen Jianqiu continued.

"Okay, okay, no problem." Clark was satisfied.

Selling guns and giving bullets, the boss is quite generous.

"I have stock in the factory now. If you need it, you can bring the money and take the gun away." Chen Jianqiu pointed to the inside of the workshop.

"We've brought cash." Clark greeted.

A dozen soldiers in uniform came in, and under the leadership of Ma Keqin, they pushed the machine guns out of the workshop.

After a while, the ten machine guns were hung behind the horses.

In Chen Jianqiu's hand, there was also a wad of 50 pounds.

"When you run out of bullets, don't forget to buy them from us. We also produce bullets here!" Before leaving, Chen Jianqiu did not forget to wave goodbye to Clark.

"Boss, why do you still give them [-] rounds of bullets each?"

Looking at the back of the convoy going away, Ma Keqin asked a little puzzled.

"Two thousand rounds? With the rate of fire of our machine gun, it will be finished in a few minutes."

A smile hung on the corner of Chen Jianqiu's mouth.

"Our smokeless gunpowder bullets are not compatible with those produced by existing manufacturers in the UK. When the time comes, he will still have to come to me to buy them."

He suddenly remembered something, turned his head and asked Ma Keqin:
"Have you registered a patent for the new model?"

"It's registered. It was registered when I first came out." Ma Keqin hurried into his office, and took out a patent certificate after a while.

"That's good."

Chen Jianqiu gave a meaningful "hmm",
Two days later, it was time to negotiate with the Germans.

Chen Jianqiu and Ma Keqin set off from Kent to London early in the morning.

Their appointment was at ten twenty in the morning.

This was the time Krupp gave him, consistently accurate.

The German Chamber of Commerce is located on the Thames River, not far from the British Parliament Building, and the famous Big Ben can be seen from a distance.

Chen Jianqiu arrived twenty minutes earlier.

He and Maxim wandered for a while on the river in front of the Chamber of Commerce, admiring the beautiful scenery of the Thames and the Westminster Bridge.

Wait until the hour and minute hands of Big Ben point exactly to ten nineteen.

Chen Jianqiu just patted Ma Keqin and walked into the gate of the German Chamber of Commerce with him.

Mr. Krupp was already waiting in the hall with his entourage.

But when they found that Chen Jianqiu was walking in front of Ma Keqin, they were also a little confused.

But Mr. Krupp was very old, but he responded quickly.

"You are very punctual. We like to discuss business with strict and punctual people." His English has a strong German accent. "So, what's your name?"

"Chen Jianqiu, sir."

Chen Jianqiu said with a smile.

Krupp is an unsmiling person, he just nodded slightly, and led the two into the inner room.

"We would like to purchase ten of your machine guns, sir."

After entering the meeting room, Krupp said straight to the point.

"You are much more stingy than some big families."

Chen Jianqiu looked up and glanced across.

There was a row full of seats opposite, which showed that they attached great importance to this negotiation.

In contrast, there are only two people on my side, which seems a lot sloppy.

"May I ask, who is the big family you are talking about?" Krupp sensed a hint of information in Chen Jianqiu's words.

"This is a commercial secret, Mr. Krupp."

Chen Jianqiu "closed his mouth".

"Okay, then, what is the price you are expecting?" Krupp didn't dwell on this, and got straight to the point.

"We don't retail."

Chen Jianqiu's reply was within Krupp's expectation.

"It is undeniable that your machine gun is very impressive, but it is only a demonstration after all. We hope to conduct further comparison and research before deciding whether to purchase in large quantities."

His reply was exactly the same as Clark's.

Chen Jianqiu smiled and shook his head.

"We don't retail."

he repeated.

Krupp's face was calm, but he felt a little troubled in his heart.

The order that Prince William gave him was to get this big killer.

According to his original plan, he bought a few back and took them apart to study.

Whether it is imitation or upgrading, he believes that with Germany's industrial level, it will only do better.

But now the people in front of him seem to be indifferent.

According to the information revealed in his words just now, the British guy has ordered a machine gun from him.

Prince William is not willing to be left behind.

"What about the fifty sticks?" Krupp added.

Chen Jianqiu still shook his head.

Krupp choked a little.

I can't go any further, the other party probably got the instruction from the British side and is deliberately making things difficult for me.

"That can only be said to be a pity. In fact, we are very sincere." Krupp stood up, ready to end the negotiation.

Chen Jianqiu spoke again:

"I have a plan, I wonder if you are willing?"

Krupp left the butt of the chair and returned to the chair.

"I will partially authorize the patent rights of the machine gun to you, and allow your Krupp Arsenal to produce this machine gun in Germany, okay."

"How much?" Krupp was almost ecstatic.

But then Chen Jianqiu reported an astronomical figure, which made the old man fall into silence.

After a complex ideological struggle, Krupp accepted the proposal.

For the future of Germany, no amount of money is worth it.

"Don't worry, at this price, you will never lose money."

Before leaving, Chen Jianqiu held Krupp's hand, "I hope we can cooperate in various fields in the future."

If he hadn't been in a hurry to ask for cash, he wouldn't have only asked for this price.

Part of the authorization to Krupp is at most one more competitor in the market.

With such a big market, you can't finish it all by yourself.

Anyway, we can't do the arms business in Germany, sell their raw materials, and then get some cannon technology from him later.

Is it really not fragrant?