After arranging the experimental production work of penicillin, as well as various equipment and materials that needed to be purchased, Li Mu came to Wuhan again.
It's only been a month since I last went to Singapore, and there are not as many bristles and tung oil in the warehouse as there were last month.
There is another not-so-good news. Realizing the huge benefits of these two materials, some people with means also poured in, including those surnamed Kong and Song.
Therefore, Li Mu knew that there would not be too many days left to make a fortune from pig bristles and tung oil.
In fact, this kind of business didn't last long. As for tung oil, Guofu will have a unified sales and purchase within a few months. People who are not well-connected will not be able to get involved.
The situation with bristle is similar. After a while, half of the country will be occupied. The bristle business in the occupied areas will naturally be small and no one else can get involved.
There is only half of the country left, and there are too many people trying to get involved, so there will be less and less left for Li Mu.
Simply speaking, Li Mu was satisfied. With these two things, he already had the capital to start a business.
Currently, he still has about 3.8 million U.S. dollars, 3 million silver dollars, more than 900 kilograms of gold, and more than 7 million legal tender on hand.
As for sales channels, you can cooperate with some big companies to share profits and make a fortune together.
After careful comparison, Li Mu finally chose the Browning M2 heavy machine gun. This is a very classic heavy machine gun. It was first born in the 1920s. At that time, the gun was only installed on aircraft. As an air crew machine gun, it mainly dealt with light armor.
and hard goals.
Despite this, three million silver dollars and more than 900 kilograms of gold were successively obtained. Due to the devaluation of legal currency, one legal currency is currently equivalent to about 0.7 silver dollars. In addition to silver dollars and gold, the legal currency received was also as high as more than 20 million.
Fortunately, he had already prepared. Penicillin was the next source of wealth, a more powerful source of wealth than bristle and tung oil.
For this, Li Mu paid US$675,000.
Fifteen thousand Mauser 98Ks, each equipped with 500 rounds of ammunition, have a whopping 7.5 million rounds of ammunition.
With the thin iron skin of the Little Japanese armored vehicles and tanks, the M2 heavy machine gun will definitely make a row of holes when it passes by. It can not only be used as suppressive firepower, but also a sharp weapon against armored vehicles and tanks.
This is also the reason why many people in China like to use German weapons. They are compatible with many domestic rifle bullets and can save a lot of trouble.
After arriving in Singapore, after the transaction, this batch of bristles and tung oil was received for about US$1.7 million, and the next time it will probably be less.
Producing your own bullets also has the advantage that the price of purchasing firearms has gone down. For example, a Mauser 98K, a gun with 500 rounds of ammunition, is worth 45 US dollars.
In the future, in order to cope with the depreciation of legal currency and some unpredictable risks, Li Mu will use more silver coins or gold transactions and charge as little legal currency as possible when the materials purchased from abroad are shipped domestically.
Later, in 1932, the M1921 heavy machine gun was modified and the water-cooled barrel was removed and replaced with an air-cooled barrel. The heat dissipation capacity was enhanced, the weight became lighter, and the problem of water shortage during combat was solved. It was named
It is: M2 heavy machine gun, which has become a classic.
Produce locally and try to keep it as unknown as possible. It is best if the factory that produces it does not know what it is producing. Then the raw materials are handed over to the Far East Trading Company and taken to the United States for further processing and filling. After packaging, they are packaged under the name of the American company.
Sold in name.
As of now, I still have more than 7 million French currency left in my hand.
After these goods are shipped to the country, they are sold at at least double or even several times the price. At an exchange rate of 2.4:1 between silver dollars and US dollars, these goods can be sold for more than 20 million silver dollars in the country.
Of course, the price can be cheaper. For soldiers injured in fighting with small books, there is no problem in half selling and half giving away.
We spent more than half a million US dollars to purchase a batch of industrial machine tools, lathes, grinders, drilling machines, molds... and other metal and steel processing equipment. With these, we recruited some skilled workers to build a medium-sized mold metal processing factory.
Even if it stands up.
Set up two production lines, find some skilled workers, and start production immediately.
The production cost cannot be reduced, and imitation is useless. Who knows how low Li Mu’s production cost is.
Then, he purchased various experimental equipment, as well as some machines and production equipment necessary for the production of penicillin. These are conventional biopharmaceutical production equipment, which can not only produce penicillin, but also other drugs.
In addition, Li Mu ordered two more sets of bullet production lines. The war was all about logistics. Buying bullets was expensive and inconvenient. If the European War started in the future, it would be impossible to buy bullets from Germany.
Most of the remaining 17 million yuan has been invested in various infrastructure construction in the Nanyang area, as well as raising troops, schools, talents, and building factories.
This heavy machine gun is also extremely versatile. It can be distributed to infantry machine gun squad soldiers for use. It can also be modified into a parallel machine gun or heading machine gun used on tanks. It can also be installed on the top turrets of armored vehicles and tactical military vehicles.
It becomes vehicle-mounted suppressive firepower.
It is better to set up two production lines and make bullets by ourselves.
Of the more than 20 million French currency, about 10 million were left in Muwu Trading Company as payment for the purchase of bristle tung oil in the past two or three months, as well as the firm's capital and foundation to maintain its operations.
Arms are indeed money-burning gadgets.
Everyone will only think that you have great powers and are generous, and will not think of Li Mu for penicillin, nor will they be jealous. After all, it is a foreign product. Who would have thought that such a cutting-edge drug would be produced in China.
One thousand Czech-style light machine guns also arrived, plus 2,000 rounds of ammunition for each gun. Li Mu paid another $220,000.
Penicillin is actually not that rare. As long as you think about it and are willing to spend money, every laboratory can make it, but the cost is too high.
…
…
He is preparing to build a metal mold processing factory. The factory buildings have already been built to accumulate some experience for the future production and research of light weapons.
In just a few days, the ordered items were received, and a direct expenditure of 1.6 million US dollars, equivalent to 1.6 tons of gold, was indeed spent to build an army.
In the next few days, the weapons ordered by Li Mu began to arrive one after another, which was another huge expense.
For example, three months ago, he purchased three million U.S. dollars of various supplies at one time, filling up all the space.
The technical difficulty of producing bullets is not high. Since the establishment of Hanyang Arsenal decades ago, China has had the technology and ability to independently manufacture bullets. In recent years, there have been more and more arsenals that can produce firearms and bullets.
There is no shortage of workers in this field in the country.
Of course, the currency used in the country is legal currency, and most conventional commodities are traded in legal currency. Only some extremely popular commodities are sold. Li Mu only accepts gold and silver dollars.
In order to keep it secret and make money, Li Mu could even take penicillin packaged in American factories from the Far East Trading Company, bring it to China and sell it as imported medicine.
The twelve Hawk 75 fighter jets he ordered have not arrived yet, otherwise they would cost another US$480,000.
Silver dollars, gold and French currency were all materials he purchased from abroad and were sold domestically.
Similarly, with the weak defense of a small aircraft, this heavy machine gun is also a weapon for air defense. The effective range of 1.8 kilometers is not for nothing.
Until the modern society of the future, the gun is still equipped as a defensive weapon on tanks and armored vehicles.
There are also 30 Bofors M1930 75mm mountain cannons ordered, plus 10,000 rounds of shells, which cost another US$510,000. The price is equivalent to 510 kilograms of gold. It is "heartbreaking". Sure enough, the sound of the gunfire is so loud
Ring, ten thousand taels of gold.
I will also try to hoard as little fiat currency as possible. If I can use fiat currency in the country, I will not spend silver dollars. I will treat silver dollars and gold as domestic reserve currencies and try not to be too affected by the depreciation of fiat currencies.
This makes it easier. The country obviously has a lot of experience and skilled workers in producing this kind of bullets. Moreover, once it is produced, part of it can be sold domestically. When there is a shortage of bullets, part of it can also be purchased domestically.
Even on warships and fighter jets, it is of great use.
Li Mu calculated what he had on hand and found that he only had more than 2.1 million US dollars left, of which he still had to leave 1 million US dollars to the Far East Commercial Bank to buy a pharmaceutical factory in the United States.
However, this is not finished yet. In order to supplement the firepower of all levels of the army and prepare to face the Japs, heavy machine guns also need to be purchased.
Regarding penicillin, Li Mu planned this.
…
The price is naturally not cheap. It costs US$1,580 per unit, which is more valuable than a light truck. Li Mu spent US$158,000 to buy one hundred US dollars. He spent another US$120,000 to purchase two hundred US dollars.
Thousands of rounds of heavy machine gun bullets.
After giving one million U.S. dollars to Far East Commercial Bank, Li Mu only had more than 1.1 million U.S. dollars left on hand, but the money had to be spent.
Two 3,000-kilowatt turbine generator sets also arrived, again costing nearly 200,000 US dollars.
Speaking of which, many domestic firearms are imitation Mauser rifles. For example, the famous domestic official rifle is the imitation Mauser 1924, which can be used interchangeably with the Mauser 98k bullet purchased by Li Mu.
After purchasing the weapons with lingering fear, Li Mu breathed a sigh of relief. After all, two million dollars had been spent.
As for other people's imitation, I'm not afraid of leaving Far East Trading Company alone to make a fortune myself.
In addition to some experimental equipment promised to the school, another million US dollars was spent.
Moreover, after the army is expanded, it will soon become an army, and all the necessary equipment should be equipped.
This business does not have a bright future for Li Mu.
In fact, the price of the gun is only twenty-five dollars, and the other twenty dollars is the price of five hundred rounds of ammunition.
Now that I have the ability to produce bullets and become a source of water, I don't have to purchase and hoard so many bullets at once and pay such high costs.
Li Mu thought about the artillery shell production line and ordered one. Although the country was not good at making artillery, the ability to produce artillery shells was still good. Not to mention Guofu, in the north where there was a shortage of equipment and materials, a lot of them were also produced during the Anti-Japanese War.
Cannonballs.
Go back and ask Muwu Trading Company to find more experienced people in this field, and you should be able to get started soon.