America 1881: Legend of the West

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

Of course, his purpose of crossing the sea to England was not just to attend the celebration.

The delegation that followed William included leaders from all walks of life.

They are here to discuss business.

After hearing that a new type of weapon was coming out in Kent, William took a few people to visit it.

His body was still filled with 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 Maxim.

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

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

"I want to purchase a group of guards to equip my grandfather. You can discuss the specific matters with Mr. Alfred Krupp."

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

Mr. Krupp walked up to Maxim and whispered something to him.

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

"He arranged for us to meet at the German Chamber of Commerce in London in three days."

Chen Jianqiu was a little puzzled.

Why is it that when the German royal family or military purchase things, the person they talk to is Krupp?

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

The Krupp Arsenal was large in scale and closely related to the German royal family.

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

They can now be called the royal arms dealers of Germany and the cornerstone of German militarism.

If you want to do arms business in Germany, you cannot avoid them.

Negotiations with the Germans were still three days away.

But the British order came first.

The next afternoon, Sir Andrew Clark, the British government's fortification inspector, came to the arsenal.

He told Maxim:

After a thorough evaluation, the British government decided to purchase ten machine guns first.

When it came to business matters, Maxim decided to let Chen Jianqiu do it himself.

There were no invisible headphones at the time, and Chen Jianqiu couldn't transmit sounds from his mind.

Maxim was running around acting as a microphone, which was really not very decent.

So, Chen Jianqiu, 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 Maxim was unwilling to talk to him, so he found a supporter.

He only knows one influential Chinese: Li Zhongtang.

But first of all, the man was an old man in his sixties, and secondly, he was said to have braids on the back of his head. In addition, as for arms, that man would only buy from Britain, France, and Germany, so there was no reason to sell weapons to himself.

Obviously this young man is not Li Zhongtang.

While he was still confused, Chen Jianqiu had already spoken first.

"Just ten?"

Fluent in American English.

"Yes, we need to go through sufficient testing and comparison before we decide whether to place subsequent orders." Sir Clark replied.

Chen Jianqiu spent one night yesterday with Maxim to estimate the cost of mass production of current machine guns, which is about 100 pounds per unit (author's note: about 14000 US dollars today).

"Let's see, you don't buy much, how about I sell it to you for 300 pounds each?" Chen Jianqiu reported a number.

"Okay, no problem." In Clark's opinion, the price is not high.

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

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

Selling guns and giving away bullets, this boss is quite generous.

"I have the goods in stock now in the factory. If necessary, bring the money and haul the gun away." Chen Jianqiu pointed to the inside of the workshop.

"We're here with cash." Clark greeted.

A dozen uniformed soldiers came in and, under the leadership of Maxim, pushed the machine guns out from the workshop.

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

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

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

"Boss, why are you giving them two thousand rounds of ammunition each?"

Looking at the retreating figure of the convoy, Maxim asked with some confusion.

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

A smile hung on Chen Jianqiu's lips.

"Our smokeless powder 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 around and asked Maxim:

"Have you registered a patent for the new model?"

"It's registered. It was registered when it first came out." Maxim hurried into his office and soon took out a patent certificate.

"That's good."

Chen Jianqiu said "hmm" meaningfully,

Two days later, it was time to negotiate with the Germans.

Chen Jianqiu and Maxim set off from Kent towards London early in the morning.

Their appointment was at 10:20 in the morning.

This was the time Krupp had given him, always precise.

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

Chen Jianqiu arrived about twenty minutes early.

He and Maxim wandered for a while by 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 to exactly 10:19.

Chen Jianqiu patted Maxim and walked into the door of the German Chamber of Commerce with him.

Mr. Krupp and his entourage were already waiting in the hall.

But when they discovered that Chen Jianqiu was walking in front of Maxim, they were a little confused.

But despite his age, Mr. Krupp reacted quickly.

"You are very punctual. We like to do business with people who are rigorous and punctual." His English had a strong German accent. "So, what would I call you?"

"Chen Jianqiu, sir."

Chen Jianqiu said with a smile.

Krupp was an unsmiling person. He just nodded slightly and led the two of them into the room inside.

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

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

"You are much stingier than some big investors."

Chen Jianqiu raised his head and glanced at the opposite side.

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

In comparison, there were only two people on my side, which seemed a lot more sloppy.

"I would like to ask, who do you think is the big business owner?" Krupp noticed a hint of information in Chen Jianqiu's words.

"This is a trade secret, dear Mr. Krupp."

Chen Jianqiu is "tight-lipped".

"Okay, then, what is the price you are expecting?" Krupp did not dwell on this and went straight to the point.

"We don't do retail."

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

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

His response was the same as Clark's.

Chen Jianqiu smiled and shook his head.

"We don't do retail."

he repeated.

Krupp's face was calm, but he felt a little troubled inside.

Prince William's order to him was to get this big killer weapon.

According to his original plan, he would buy a few and then take them apart to study them.

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

But now the person in front of me seems to be out of touch.

According to the information revealed in his words, the British have already ordered a machine gun from him.

Prince William doesn't want to be left behind.

"What about fifty?" Krupp added.

Chen Jianqiu still shook his head.

Krupp was a little choked.

We can't add any more pressure. The other side may have received instructions from the British and is deliberately making things difficult for us.

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

Chen Jianqiu spoke again:

"I have a plan. I wonder if you are willing to do it?"

Krupp got off his butt from the chair and returned to it.

"I will partially license the machine gun patent rights 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, you will never lose money at this price."

Before Chen Jianqiu left, he held Krupp's hand and said, "I hope that we can cooperate in various fields in the future."

If he hadn't been desperate for cash, he wouldn't have offered just this price.

Granting partial authorization to Krupp will only create one more competitor in the market at best.

It’s such a big market that I can’t eat it all by myself.

There is no arms business in Germany anyway, just sell them raw materials and then get some artillery technology from him.

Doesn’t it really smell good?