Republic of China: My great warlord, many children, many blessings.

Shen Hao remembered that this guy was a very famous arms dealer during the Beiyang period.

During the late Qing and Republican periods, there was a special class in China—the compradors.

In layman's terms, they are intermediaries or managers in trade activities. They are employed by foreign businessmen to assist foreigners in doing business in the country, just like the distributors who represent foreign brands today.

Yong Jianqiu was a major comprador, but his comprador role was different from others because he was an agent for arms.

From his involvement in the arms business in 1910 to his withdrawal from the arms industry in 1917, Yong Jianqiu handled arms orders worth hundreds of millions of yuan.

Yong Jianqiu personally earned five or six million silver dollars from this, making him the most successful and largest arms dealer during the Beiyang period.

Moreover, a while ago, Yuan Shikai gave him one million silver dollars and also mentioned Yong Jianqiu, asking Shen Hao to take care of the business.

Yuan Shikai said this because Yong Jianqiu, through Zhu Qiqian (Minister of Transportation), donated 6000 M1888 rifles and 10 24cm heavy siege mortars to Yuan Shikai free of charge.

After Yuan Shikai received the arms deal, he instructed Army Chief of Staff Duan Qirui to "take good care" of Yong Jianqiu's arms business.

This guy is willing to spend money to build relationships.

Building a network of connections is a powerful tactic, but the main purpose of cultivating relationships is to make money by selling arms.

However, this guy is most famous for the West Lake Hotel, also known as the West Lake Villa, which he built in Tianjin. It was extremely luxurious and enjoyed great success.

It is very famous in history.

However, this guy lost his protector after Yuan Shikai's death.

Furthermore, due to the support of Japanese pirates for figures like Duan Qirui, Xu Shuzheng, and Zhang Zuolin, the arms trade plummeted.

For a very wealthy businessman, losing his protector means the beginning of his downfall.

Then some people started to target Yong Jianqiu.

While selling weapons, Yong Jianqiu also did charity work, enabling many people to attend school for free, and he also purchased a number of Buddhist temples.

Wu Bingxiang, the chief police officer of the capital, had long disliked Yong Jianqiu, but had not dared to take action before due to Zhu Qiqian's protection.

After Yuan Shikai's death, Zhu Qiqian stepped down.

He instructed his subordinates to fabricate charges of "forcibly buying temple property and insulting Buddha statues," and arrested Yong Jianqiu without granting him bail.

After much effort and spending six or seven hundred thousand silver dollars, Yong Jianqiu's wife finally managed to get him released through Duan Qirui's connections.

The temple property was returned to the abbot, the school was shut down, and Yong Jianqiu spent several months in prison, where he was severely humiliated.

It is evident that in China at that time, no matter how wealthy a businessman was, if he had no powerful connections, he was nothing more than a fat pig waiting to be slaughtered.

Of course, this approach still works even in the 21st century, and Shen Hao is a living example.

Even those old-age electric vehicles with a market value of 200 billion yuan were forced to go abroad.

Therefore, Shen Hao was obsessed with becoming an official and a warlord; he was even more addicted to it than to playing with women.

"Oh, I only know about Lihe Trading Company, I don't know about Jebsen Trading Company?" Shen Hao said deliberately;

Lihe & Co. was the most famous German-owned enterprise in the Far East, and was an agent for Hamburg Shipping Company, Krupp Company, and Zeiss Optical Equipment Factory.

It is known for importing German military equipment, heavy machinery, precision instruments, and mining equipment.

From the Beiyang government to the War of Resistance against Japan, they were the most famous arms dealers, much like the general public in later generations, with an excellent reputation.

In his early years, when Yuan Shikai trained the Beiyang Army, he used German-style drill manuals and equipment, primarily German-made. Even after becoming president, Yuan continued to trust German weaponry.

Yong Jianqiu hurriedly said, "Brigadier Shen, the strength of Jebsen & Co. is not comparable to..."

"I can guarantee that Lihe Foreign Firm is inferior."

How can you guarantee that I haven't bought your products?

Yong Jianqiu said, "Commander Shen, you may not know this, but I used to be an agent for Lihe Trading Company, so I am very familiar with the products of both companies."

The price-performance ratio is excellent, and I can guarantee that as long as Commander Shen buys it honestly, I can lower the price even further.

The quality can still be guaranteed.

"Oh, then why did your Lihe Trading Company suddenly become an agent for Jebsen Trading Company's weapons?" Shen Hao asked.

Upon hearing this, Yong Jianqiu raised an eyebrow and said, "Of course, it's because the commission offered by Lihe Foreign Firm is too low."

Brigade Commander Shen should be aware of the Krupp weapons under the Lihe Foreign Firm.

With a strong reputation and a solid brand, my products never lacked sales channels. However, the commission I received from Lihe Trading Company was very low, and they were unwilling to spend much on social activities, which made me very unhappy.

Krupp's weapons are world-renowned, but they are not without competitors.

Krupp's German competitor, Erhard Arms Factory.

The products of Erhard Arms Factory (i.e., Rheinmetall) – a monopoly group that produces steel, munitions, and ships.

Jebsen & Co., a German firm, acted as the agent for the Erhard Arms Factory's arms business.

Just then, Jebsen & Co. was also preparing to expand into the domestic arms market.

Therefore, Mr. Nard, the general manager of the bank, saw that I had opened up sales channels for Krupp's arms factory for Lihe & Co., so he cooperated with me and gave me a high commission.

Therefore, I chose Jebsen & Co.

Shen Hao nodded, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Really? How could I possibly know what kind of bargaining chips you were given?"

Yong Jianqiu smiled and said, "Of course there's no problem with that. I only mentioned three conditions at the time:"

First, I told him that bureaucrats... no, I mean those who cultivate relationships, need to be bribed with a lot of money, so the expenses for their activities should be high, and they shouldn't be as stingy as the Lihe Foreign Firm.

Second, the price of the goods must be low, at least lower than that of Lihe Foreign Firm, otherwise they cannot compete.

Third, they played the long game, hoping to catch a big fish. The expenses incurred in the business, regardless of whether the deal was successful or not, were to be acknowledged by the foreign firm.

To my surprise, Mr. Nard agreed to everything, and I naturally became his agent.

"To be honest, Commander Shen, you were my first deal as an agent for Jebsen & Co."

"Oh? With such strong connections, how could I possibly be your first client?" Shen Hao said skeptically.

Then, Yong Jianqiu began to tell his story.

Yong Jianqiu had a very clear understanding of the situation; the price of German arms was bound to rise.

For the Erhard Arms Factory, the only competitor was the Krupp Arms Factory.

What Yong Jianqiu needed to do was to build a network of connections among the high-ranking officials of the Beiyang government and promote the products of the Erhard Arsenal.

Initially, Yong Jianqiu's main public relations target was Tang Shaoyi, the Secretary-General of the State Council. However, Tang Shaoyi resigned due to a falling out with Yuan Shikai, and the public relations expenses were wasted.

Finally, through Zhu Qiqian's (Minister of Transportation) connections, they got in touch with Yuan Shikai.

They were only allowed to conduct business after giving away 6000 M1888 rifles and 10 24cm heavy siege mortars to Yuan Shikai free of charge.

After hearing the whole story, Shen Hao could also feel the pressure and sincerity of Yong Jianqiu.

Yong Jianqiu added, "Furthermore, as long as Mr. Shen cooperates with me, I will handle the matter of the Army Ministry's transportation permit; Mr. Shen won't need to pay for it."

In those days, provinces needed to apply to the Ministry of War for a weapons import and transportation license to import arms.

Of course, there is also a large amount of smuggled arms, such as the arms deal between Shen Hao and Becker last time.

However, such transactions are dangerous and unprotected. If you get robbed, you deserve it, and no one will stand up for you.

Shenhao is located near the coast, making smuggling convenient as it doesn't go through other regions, and arms sales are also simple.

Smuggled weapons are usually light weapons, such as rifles and pistols. Heavy weapons are rarely smuggled without proper equipment.

If you're an inland power, and the Ministry of War won't approve your purchase of weapons, then you'll have to buy them from other warlords.

However, it's easy for them to be stolen.

Shen Hao didn't care about the license at all; Yuan Datou was his father-in-law, so getting a license was a piece of cake for him.

Shen Hao then smiled knowingly and said, "Oh? So confident?"

As if he had touched on his area of ​​expertise, Yong Jianqiu became more confident.

He smiled and said, "Commander Shen, I can guarantee 100% that there will be no problem."

The Ministry of the Army was the domain of Chief of Staff Duan Qirui and Director of the Military Horse Department Xu Shuzheng.

Brigade Commander Shen's presence means that the army's arms business is now in the hands of Chief of Staff Duan and Director Xu.

"But Director Xu is my sworn brother; getting a license is a piece of cake for him."

135. I want a rifle production line.

Seeing Yong Jianqiu's confident demeanor, Shen Hao asked, "Then do you know who I am?"

Yong Jianqiu was stunned for a moment, not understanding what Shen Hao meant.

He asked疑惑地, "What does Commander Shen mean by that? I don't quite understand."

Shen Hao said, "It seems Mr. Yong, your information is quite outdated."

At this moment, Yong Jianqiu also understood the hidden meaning in Shen Hao's words.

But his forehead still looked like a question mark.

I've been running around doing business for the past two weeks, and all I know is that a new warlord, Shen Hao, has emerged in Guangdong Province.

They were very strong and eliminated Cao Ying and Guo Changshun.