The business delivered to his door made Liu Kunpeng feel so comfortable!
As a businessman, how can you not like doing business with Tatar officials? For these people, it is a pleasure to pay. Of course, the premise is that you have money.
However, the Qing Dynasty was really rich!
When buying weapons, they almost never ask about the price. But it's useless to ask. All the banks in Shanghai regard them as taken advantage of.
A p1853 Enfield rifle worth only 10 taels of silver can be sold for at least 20 to 30 taels of silver in Shanghai. Don’t think it’s too expensive. Sometimes ordinary local officials may not be able to buy it even with money. Why?
Because they have not dealt with officials from other regions.
That is to say, Liu Kunpeng is really willing to deal with officials from other places when doing business. Now he even sells foreign guns and cannons to Henan, Shandong and other places. Even Shaanxi has guns and cannons he sells.
Nowadays, there are a few people in Shanghai who don’t know the name of American Foreign Company. Of course, everyone also knows the name of Liu Daban. They know that he is easier to deal with than foreigners and his prices are fair.
After discussing the small business, Liu Kunpeng mentioned another big deal.
"My Lord Governor, I recently heard in the concession that Mr. Wall persuaded Mr. Wu to purchase a warship."
The Wall in Liu Kunpeng's mouth was an American businessman, the founder of the Foreign Gun Team. They had won Wu Xu's trust in their early years. As early as last year, they had been lobbying Wu Xu to buy Western warships to resist the long-haired waves.
division.
"I've also heard about this. Wall seems to have claimed that "with only 400,000 taels of silver, you can buy one large warship and four small warships." Shuren, you stay in the foreign territory all year round. 400,000 taels of silver
, can you really buy five warships?"
Mr. Li was puzzled and said that he was an outsider in warships, but like Wu Xu, he felt that Hua Er's quotation was very low. 400,000 taels of silver to buy five warships was worth it!
"Forty thousand taels, it's worth buying five warships. It's definitely worth it, but Mr. Li, it's hard to say what kind of army these five ships are."
Looking at Mr. Li, Liu Kunpeng smiled.
"If we buy back a few obsolete wooden hull boats, we will lose a lot!"
"Wooden-hulled ship? How can this ship have an iron hull? How can this iron-hulled ship float on the water?"
Mr. Li asked doubtfully.
"The Governor doesn't know that Britain and France have built ironclads a few years ago. Now all Western countries are rushing to build ironclads. Wooden-hulled warships are becoming obsolete even in second-rate countries like the United States. Now,
I suspect that what Wall Brothers wants to sell to the Qing Dynasty may be the wooden-hulled ships that the United States has eliminated. Each of these ships only costs tens of thousands of taels. There are five ships, including ships and guns. Even if you add mercenaries,
The foreigners can only earn 200,000 taels at most. If they change hands, they can earn 200,000 taels. This Wall Brothers has done a good business!"
Liu Kunpeng's sigh made Master Li frown. He, who was at odds with the Wall Brothers, said unhappy.
"These two Wall brothers are really profiteers! They are truly abominable."
After saying that, he sighed again.
"Unfortunately, there are too few trustworthy businessmen like Shuren in Shanghai. Even if they are comprador translators, there are a few who are not willing to be driven by foreigners."
Of course, Liu Kunpeng accepted the praise from Governor Li. After laying down an introduction in a few words, he changed the topic to the recruitment of workers. Of course, Master Li also laughed at the recruitment of workers in northern Jiangsu that he mentioned.
He looked unwilling to talk in depth. Liu Kunpeng would not force him on this, he would just let him know.
When he left the Huai Army barracks and got on the carriage to return to the concession, Liu Kunpeng's smile faded and he sneered.
"When you taste the sweetness, you won't refuse!"
Will those people turn away the benefits that come to their door?
Impossible, there were no officials in the Qing Dynasty who were not greedy for money. As long as they had money to earn, let alone turning a blind eye to "recruitment", even if they were selling coolies, they could turn a blind eye.
Now the reason why Mr. Li doesn't express his position is just because he doesn't want to be directly involved in this matter. If he doesn't want to talk to him, he can talk to other people.
As long as he doesn't object personally, it means the matter is done.
He tapped the roof of the car with his cane and shouted to the driver.
“Go straight to the dock!”
…
Early the next morning, before the ship arrived at Yangshan, Liu Kunpeng was startled by the giant ship parked on the ocean between the Big and Little Yangshan Mountains. Not to mention him, even the boss of the ship was so frightened that he almost died.
Kneel down.
"Oh my god, this shouldn't be the dragon boat of the Dragon King of the East China Sea!"
The "Great Eastern", like a floating city, is moored quietly on the sea. Surrounded by small wooden boats, the boats are crowded with men and women of different ages, all of whom are waiting to sail.
Of course, the immigrants in the detention center are not voluntary, but when people arrive at the detention center, they have no other choice.
After all, they had all accepted their fate from the day they were snatched away by Changmao. Accepting their fate, when they left the waiting room and boarded the big iron ship, they all looked at it with astonishment, and even
At this moment, they became more obedient. After all, in front of such a giant ship, human beings will inevitably become small, and they will involuntarily feel worship and awe in their hearts.
When the plank passed near the "Great Eastern", Liu Kunpeng opened his eyes in shock. He could even hear the sound of his own heart, the thumping sound of his heartbeat. At this moment, there was only one thought left in his mind -
—Awe!
Even he himself became extremely small...
"Brother Liu, what do you think of this boat?"
Li Fugui pointed to the iron ship on the sea and said to Liu Kunpeng.
"This ship is still made of iron!"
"There really are iron-hulled ships!"
Liu Kunpeng said in surprise.
"I thought it was nonsense!"
"What do you think? Otherwise, how could this ship be so big? By the way, I want you to come here this time because I want you to go to Hangzhou and discuss a big business with Li Xiucheng."
"Big business?"
Liu Kunpeng said in surprise.
"what business?"
"where……"
Pointing to a strange-looking ship parked near the pier, Li Fugui smiled.
"My boss told me to sell this armored ship to Prince Zhong!"
What!
Sell the ironclad ship to King Zhong!
Liu Kunpeng stared at the armored ship with big eyes, looking at the huge cannon that could fit his head in, Liu Kunpeng said in shock.
"This, this cannon is so big!"
In front of the ironclad is a huge 10-inch Dahlgren front-loaded rifled cannon. Placed in the Far East, this gun is absolutely astonishing and looks like a king.
"It can't be big! This is a ten-inch cannon. It weighs 12,000 pounds, has 124 pounds of solid shells, 101.5 pounds of grenades, and has a range of 3,000 yards..."
While speaking, Li Fugui pointed to the fort on Yangshan Island and said.
"This time four doors were brought with the ship, and I have put them on the island. It is necessary to be on guard against others!"
From Tanhu Mountain to Yangshan, even though we are further away from the mainland, we still have to consider safety issues. After all, this is not only a waiting station, but also a material warehouse. Building a fort is a natural thing.
"That's indeed the case, but don't let those 12-pound cannons sit idle. I'll sell them all later."
For arms dealers, the most important thing is to sell the goods regardless of whether they are old or new, rather than leaving them in a warehouse to gather dust.
Then Liu Kunpeng asked again.
"It really has iron armor?"
"Yes, there is indeed iron armor. The thickest part is an inch and the thinnest part is half an inch. I heard from people who came on the ship that even the half-inch thick iron armor cannot be penetrated by ordinary cannons. I dare say that it has
It, the Qing soldiers will no longer be Shao Mao’s opponent!”
"This this……"
Liu Kunpeng asked as he stared at the invincible armored ship.
"Is it appropriate to sell it to Changmao?"
"It's appropriate! Why isn't it appropriate? You don't remember what my boss said!"
Li Fukun said with a smile.
"Arms dealers who do not sell arms to both warring parties are not good arms dealers. The more fierce the fight between them, the better our business will be."
