The wind blows from the South Sea

Chapter 116 Arms
Uncle Biao is the boss of the Huaqing Gang, and he is also a prominent figure in the world of Singapore.

Relying on mountains to eat mountains, relying on water to draft water.

The Huaqing Gang is a labor gang at the provincial level in Fujian. Most of the gang members are coolies on the dock. They rely on unity to occupy a piece of land on the dock to get food, hoping that the bosses of the trading companies will reward them with food.

Regardless of the small port of Singapore, there are six Chinese gangs working for food. Most of the Chinese from the southeastern coast gather together in rural parties and regions to keep warm.

in the room

Uncle Biao was leaning on his gums, smoking a hookah, and there was a pretty woman serving tea next to him, looking relaxed and contented.

At this moment

His red-stick beater "Lame Kun" opened the door and came in sweating profusely. The movement startled him, and the water pipe in his hand almost poked his nostrils.

This made Uncle Biao furious. He sat up, grabbed a few bananas on the table, smashed them over, and cursed;
"Pu, your mother... Lame Kun, you are so mad, you barged in without knocking on the door, there are no rules at all."

Lame Kun easily caught the banana, peeled it open and took a bite, and replied;
"Please eat some bananas. Thank you, Uncle Biao. My mouth is dry after running all the way, so I just drink water!"

The British Royal Admiralty, which is always paying attention to the development of marine science and technology, clearly pointed out in an internal secret report;

"Uncle Biao, those guys from the Nanyang Company strictly have no ill intentions. They are just using our Fangbao land to do business. Everyone knows that they don't want to cause trouble.

In the blue bay, hundreds of seabirds were flying up and down in the sky and singing, the hull of the ship was rising and falling with the waves, and the cool sea breeze was blowing on your face.

The upper echelons of the gang had a better life, but that was only compared to the coolies.

When Feng Guohui led his men back to the ship, many local businessmen had already come to "Yuanyuntong Trading Company" one after another, visiting in the name of congratulating "a happy opening" and bringing gifts along with them.

"You eat shit, what's the matter?"

The British-made 27700-ton Great Eastern was launched on January 1858, 1, and was soon put into operation on the New York route, causing a huge sensation in the Western world.

He understood better than anyone else that this strange iron-hulled ship contained great significance. It was a great achievement of condensed steam industrial science and technology civilization and would change the entire world.

He hurriedly put the smoking gun aside, put down his legs, put on his shoes, stood up, and then said solemnly, "Those long-haired thieves came to us. What does he want to do?"

Britain has stopped building large sailing warships since 1850. The size of the Royal Navy's sailing fleet has remained at about 25 tons, which is three times that of the second-ranked French Navy. The size of the French Navy's sailing warships is 84000 tons.

Feng Guohui's eyes were fixed on the strange-looking small steamer. This was the first time he saw an iron-hulled ship after his rebirth, and he could not look away for a long time.

Therefore, their door sign says "Yuanyun Tongxing" and does not use the Nanyang Company's trade name.

Most maritime powers in Europe and the United States have not yet realized the subversive impact of iron-shelled giant ships on the maritime power of the old era. This is the gap between the two.

Uncle Biao's original uneasy mood improved a little. He frowned and paced back and forth in the room several times, feeling very uncomfortable.

"What do you mean? Nanyang Company, Dagang Company, Lanfang Company, what does it have to do with us?"

"That's it!"

I guess I don't want foreigners to know. "

The Huaqing Gang is backed by large and small merchants of the Fujian Province Chamber of Commerce. They are all merchants engaged in trade. They operate rice stores, cloth stores, daily necessities, etc. Many large merchants also have varying numbers of trading ships. Traveling between various places in Southeast Asia.

Feng Guohui and others took a small sampan back to the ketch. After boarding the ship, they leaned on the railing and looked far away.

Here you can see a small iron-hulled steamer on the coast, about three to four hundred tons. There are huge side impellers on each side of the hull, driven by steam.

So he said;

His situation was like a group of monkeys in the forest. Suddenly they heard that a tiger was coming, and they were immediately frightened and uneasy.

It must be admitted that the British Royal Navy has extraordinary insight on this sensitive issue.

The Royal Navy equipped with more than a hundred sailing battleships is facing the choice of the times..."

All these were left to the shopkeeper Chen Bolun to entertain, and the place was full of guests and it was really lively.

You can't blame him for being afraid. The gang is a gang, and they are not the same as those long-haired thieves who kill without blinking an eye. They are all the stinky coolies from the dock who hang together to live in poverty.

"Uncle Biao, you don't know. The powerful dragon of Nanyang Company has crossed the sea and opened a trading house on Hadley Street. When I went to collect the numbers today, I happened to bump into it."

At this time, the Singapore Harbor was full of masts, and workers handling cargo at the pier were loading and unloading all kinds of cargo into the warehouse along the gangplank, creating a busy scene.

Since they don't want to reveal their identity and do things quietly, then we can just follow their wishes and respect these things in private. "

For a moment, I had no idea at all.

Lame Kun knew what his boss was afraid of. When he heard that the Nanyang Company had revealed their identity, he almost peed with fright when he lifted up his clothes and saw the revolvers on their waists.

"The development of steam iron ships represented a new direction for the world's shipping industry, and this argument shook the Royal Navy's huge fleet that dominated the seven seas, turning it into a ridiculous and clumsy toy of the old era.

"What?" Uncle Biao was so frightened that he almost dropped the hookah in his hand.

Singapore is a transit seaport with a huge trade volume. British merchants eat most of such a big cake, and the rest is eaten by Chinese chambers of commerce in various places.

"This is really a big event. Does Uncle Biao know about the super powerful Nanyang Company in Java Island? It's the dragon crossing the river in Surabaya Port. Many Chinese people drag their families and immigrants there..." Lame Kun chewed in his mouth Banana, still didn’t delay in talking.

"I know Uncle Biao, I'll go to the Chamber of Commerce and inform him." Lame Kun didn't say anything, and immediately turned around and left.

When Uncle Biao heard this, he interrupted him impatiently and said;

"Women have long hair and short knowledge, what do you know?" Uncle Biao replied impatiently.

He stopped, and at this moment some concerns emerged in his mind, so he ordered lame Kun;
"Kunzai, we need to inform the big water pipe behind us about this. What's the next step? Just listen to the instructions."

With its superior geographical location, entrepot trade is the only pillar industry of the entire port.

The woman next to her saw Uncle Biao's solemn expression turning around again, she couldn't help but rolled her eyes charmingly and said;
"Master, please stop spinning, it will make you dizzy.

Before this trip to Singapore, the shipyard equipment that Feng Guohui had been thinking about finally arrived at Surabaya Port, accompanied by 116 British engineers and skilled shipbuilders.

The shipyard is located on the other side of the Seven Star Fortress, about a thousand meters away in the bay. Large-scale shipyard construction is currently underway and is expected to be completed before the end of the year.

With the addition of these British engineers and skilled workers, the shipyard is bound to enter formal production faster.

The most important thing for the development of the Nanyang Army is time. If there is another 1 to 2 years, Feng Guohui is confident to build Surabaya into an emerging industrial city with relatively comprehensive industrial production capabilities.

Unfortunately, this is a luxury hope after all. The Nanyang Army had to face the crazy offensive of the white Dutch colonists when it was still in its infancy...

the next morning
When the sky just dawned, the big two-masted sailing ship put away its anchor, raised its sails and sailed out of Singapore Harbor, heading northeast, its snow-white track disappearing between the water and the sky.

In the evening two days later, against the backdrop of the sunset, the sailing ship sailed along the Saigon River and entered Saigon Port.

In this era, the French invested heavily in the construction of Saigon, striving to turn it into a little Paris in Indochina, a European city with a unique tropical style.

in this city
In addition to the Western carriages and white people that can be seen everywhere, there are also Chinese expatriates who have immigrated to the local area, accounting for more than 4% of the entire city's population.

Abandoning the ship and landing, Feng Guohui and others quickly moved into a large hotel run by Chinese businessmen. Surprisingly, they could eat authentic Cantonese food here.

Through a local broker, Feng Guohui met the mysterious sellers the next day, two Frenchmen with military characteristics.

"Mr. Blucher, everything will be traded in accordance with our pre-negotiated intentions. Do you have any problems? If there are no problems, we can implement the details and we can trade directly." Philadelphia, the shopkeeper of "Yuan Yuntong Trading Company" in Saigon said .

When dealing with the French, Feng Guohui just stood aside pretending to be a guard, and Philadelphia came forward to deal with the other party.

Mr. Blucher smiled proudly and said, "Of course there is no problem with this batch of goods. If you want, I can provide more, but where do you want to use this batch of goods? The territory of the Dutch?"

Philadelphia replied with a cold face; "Mr. Blucher, you know that I will not answer similar questions, and this is beyond the bounds of curiosity.

The transaction between the two parties involves one hand goods and one hand money, and nothing else will be involved. This is something that has been discussed before.

Whether you're guessing south or north, I won't reveal any information about my clients.

Now I just want to ask, will the transaction continue? "

"Of course, why not? It's just that the price of the transaction will be doubled." Mr. Blucher said with an evil smile and a shrug;

"I hope you can understand... My friend, we are taking risks in doing such a large arms deal. These are 8000 rifles and 40 Napoleon cannons. They are the latest equipment in active service in Europe. It is impossible for you to find more than this." Good stuff.”

Although you are mentally prepared before coming, the seller may suddenly make a big move and increase the price by 30% to 40%.

This is because the French offer was quite favorable at the beginning. It was based on the price of second-hand arms, which was quite tempting.

In fact

Brand-new and unused arms can only be ordered from Europe. Second-hand arms are basically stockpiles or goods leaked from the hands of the colonial military, and their quality varies.

The price is naturally not much higher.

Mr. Blucher said that the best products currently in use in Europe are basically weapons that have been produced and equipped for more than 30 years. This is just a fool's errand.

Philadelphia was not used to him, and said with a sneer: "It seems that Mr. Blucher has no sincerity in the transaction. Let's judge the goods, but it is absolutely impossible for the price to double."

"No, when your customers desperately need this ammunition, anything is possible."

"Then you will be disappointed. My customers are demanding and picky, and they are very knowledgeable. If I purchase a large amount of unsatisfactory arms and cannot sell them in the end, it will be a complete disaster for my business."

"Then what do you mean..."

"We can only look at the quality of the goods first, and then discuss the price. If it fails to meet our psychological line, I'm sorry, but the transaction has to be canceled. We can't take such a big risk and purchase a batch of inferior goods. .”

The two sides argued with each other for a while. At Philadelphia's insistence, Mr. Blucher finally softened his attitude and agreed to go and see the goods first.

As for money, that's not an issue.

After all, Saigon is the territory of the French, and no one dares to play tricks on the French here.

Feng Guohui stood behind them and observed carefully, and finally met Feng Dali's eyes and confirmed that both of them were officers in the French colonial army.

The French army is a professional army. There are many veterans in their thirties and forties among the soldiers. Years of military career have left distinctive marks on them, and it is not difficult to identify them.

This can easily explain why they have so many second-hand arms, and they are completely doing business without capital.

The French have been operating in Saigon for many years and have accumulated a large amount of arms there.

The legal 1777-style rifle has been produced since the last century. During the era of French Emperor Napoleon, it was manufactured in large quantities after improvements and was called the "Republic Type " flintlock rifle.

It has been accumulated over the years and has a very large amount.

The same is true for Napoleon's cannons, which are still being manufactured under Napoleon III, and the manufacturing process is no different from half a century ago.

In a warehouse by the Saigon River, Feng Guohui and others saw wooden boxes stacked high. They opened the wooden boxes and found rifles covered with butter and wrapped in oil paper.

Judging from the inscriptions on the gun bodies, most of them were produced in the 19s and 30s, about years ago.

As for the situation that was discussed at the beginning, there is not much difference. The guns and cannons are also well maintained, which is in line with the expectations beforehand.

"Don't worry, guys, these weapons are as good as new. The warehouse you see contains twelve thousand of the best flintlock rifles.

Not that I'm boasting, you can't buy quality weapons in such large quantities anywhere, it's worth doubling the price. "Mr. Blucher is not a very good businessman, but he is greedy and wants to sell more money.

This is normal. How could an officer who is not greedy for profit do something like this and resell the arms in stock?
Philadelphia shook his head like a rattle and flatly refused and said, "Sir, the most important thing in doing business is integrity. You have a lot of weapons here, and we can form a long-term relationship.

But without integrity, nothing is possible.

I admit that this batch of weapons is basically consistent with what was originally described, but the price is absolutely unacceptable.

Because we also want to make money and cannot completely lock in the profit margin, then there is no point in taking huge risks to do this business.

I can accept a 15% price increase. Any more will make no profit.

No one would be stupid enough to buy so many arms at home and pile them up in a warehouse, where they can neither be eaten nor drunk, and a lot of money is wasted. "

"No, no, no... This is too ridiculous. I can only agree to increase the price by 80%. Any lower price is impossible."

"Mr. Blücher, so many of your weapons have to be sold to be converted into money. They will be piled here and eat dust forever. Who would buy weapons as generously as I do?"

"Then you can't bargain so harshly. I'll give you 70% at most."

"Mr. Blucher, did you get a wrong concept? You suddenly asked for a higher price than the originally agreed price. If we had known this earlier, we would not have come. Just because of this trip, Just hold your nose and negotiate the price.”

"Okay, okay, then I can give in a little more, but your price can't be that outrageous. How about 50%?"

"Twenty percent at most."

"Oh... God, you are a stingy buyer, you can't increase the price bit by bit like this. We still look down upon this small amount of money. It's simply an insult."

"Mr. Blucher, if you knew what we did for this transaction, you wouldn't think so. We exchanged a large sum of British pounds for you. This is the most reliable hard currency in the world. You can hold it at any time." It goes to gold.”

"I like the pound. It can indeed prove your sincerity in the transaction, but 4% is too little. How about adding some more, %?"

"No, just 20%, but I can release more sincerity in the transaction, such as rounding up all the arms in your entire warehouse and exchanging them for your favorite pounds instead of piling them here to eat dust day after day. I believe it. Me, you can't find such a big customer for one-time sale." "Mr. Blucher, so many of your weapons have to be sold to be converted into money. They are piled here and eat dust forever. Who would be like me? Spending a lot of money buying weapons?”

Sure enough, such a proposal made Blucher and his companions excited.

They sell arms privately for more than a day or two, but it is very difficult to meet big customers. Basically, they sell thirty to fifty or one to two hundred muskets. Those with a quantity of more than 300 are extremely rare.

In particular, Napoleon cannons are very difficult to sell, and they cannot be sold even if the price drops again and again.

There are a total of 120 Napoleonic cannons in the warehouse, which can be emptied at once.

The Chinese man in front of me wants to cover the entire warehouse in one go, and he can immediately exchange it for exciting pound notes, so what are you waiting for?

"It's a pleasure to cooperate. I hope to have the opportunity to continue to cooperate in the future." Blucher finally stretched out his hand with a smile, and shook hands with Philadelphia tightly.

This deal was finally negotiated, and we can’t say who won or who lost. We can only say that everyone got what they needed, and it was a win-win result.

The Nanyang Army currently does not have the ability to produce its own arms. It can purchase a large number of weapons to quickly arm the army and retain a certain inventory.

A problem that can be solved with money is not a big problem.

With the French's poor inventory registration system, the loss of weapons inventory is a bad debt, and no one can fully account for it.

In the end, only the French military suffered a loss, but this has nothing to do with both parties to the transaction.

This will be a great help for the upcoming war.

And these greedy French officers also received bundles of pounds, so they could enjoy wine and women as much as they wanted. They could even end their service early and return to their homeland to live a happy life of rich men.

(End of this chapter)