On the morning of the second day, the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The British negotiating team headed by Fitley and Li Hongzhang began a direct confrontation, but both sides were very eager for their respective equipment needs, and naturally they would not set up obstacles for each other.

First of all, there is the problem of heavy machine guns.

Fitley offered a large contract for a total of 4,000 heavy machine guns and 600,000 rounds of machine gun ammunition, and demanded that it be delivered to the British Empire in four installments over five years, but the unit price was expected to be traded for 1,500 taels of silver.

But Li Hongzhang directly refuted it, no way!

When he was preparing to build the Huai Army, he had enough of the suffering of foreigners, he couldn't produce foreign guns and cannons, all the weapons and ammunition were choked by the opponent, and all the weapons were bought at a high price.

Why the pound?

This is proposed by Guo Ye, trading with the British, to trade with the pound sterling, with the French to trade with the franc, but the Chinese to trade with the other party, to trade with silver.

Li Hongzhang doesn't understand this very well, but Guo Ye knows that in the next few decades, silver will depreciate rapidly, and this trend is irreversible, but the world will fully establish a gold standard monetary system within 50 years, and eventually, China must also establish a gold standard monetary system, but China does not have enough gold to ensure the stability of the immediate monetary system, that is fatal, so China has to eat as much as possible the world's major currencies - the pound and the franc in recent years. Pave the way ahead for your own gold standard monetary system, which is hard currency and can buy gold around the world.

And silver, because of the instability of prices, will eventually withdraw from the monetary system, and the rapid depreciation will also lead to a loss in international trade.

In the face of Li Hongzhang's resolute attitude, Fetley had to give in, anyway, it was only a matter of tens of thousands of pounds, and it was not a big deal.

After the end of the heavy machine gun arms procurement negotiations, the two sides immediately began the purchase of warships negotiations, but this time, it was the turn of the British to bite the price.

three battleships of the 8,000-ton class, the British side asked for 1.5 million pounds; three 4,000-ton cruisers, the British side asked for 800,000 pounds; Six 1,000-ton gunboats and six torpedo boats, the British side asked for 700,000 pounds, and the total value was as high as 3 million pounds!

Even Li Hongzhang felt dizzy for a while, this is just the battleship, as well as the naval guns and ammunition equipped on it, I am afraid that all of them will cost more than three and a half million pounds, or even more!

"No! We strongly disagree with your offer! The price is outrageous! ”

Li Hongzhang said urgently.

"Lord Li, our warships are also the latest in the world, and the warships of any country cannot be compared with us in terms of comprehensive performance! What's more, aren't your heavy machine guns also so expensive? ”

Fetley shrugged and replied indifferently.

"Mr. Fitley, I think you are mistaken, our heavy machine guns can only be produced and manufactured by the Chinese Empire, but warships, or even ironclad ships, whether your country can produce them, you don't sell them, we can go to the United States to buy them, we can go to France to buy them, and we can even go to Italy to buy them! Go to Germany to buy! In a word, price reduction! We have prepared such a large order for your country, but you want to take the opportunity to slander people, it is really unreasonable! ”

Li Hongzhang roared angrily.

"Lord Li, not all countries can eat such a huge order, now that all the powerful countries in the world are expanding their armies, it is difficult to meet their own needs, and they have to build so many warships for other countries in one go, do you think it is possible?"

"If that's the case, then we have nothing to talk about, we can't get battleships, you don't want to get heavy machine guns, we can buy battleships from other places, step by step to increase our strength, but you can't guarantee that you will have an absolute advantage in the war for a period of time in the future......"

Li Hongzhang said ruthlessly, Li Hongzhang himself is a two-pole temper, and he will scold if he disagrees, and now the strength of the Chinese Empire is gradually becoming stronger, and it is even more unscrupulous!

Fetley's eyes flickered, and finally he said: "Okay, for the sake of the friendship between Britain and China, we are willing to make certain concessions, and the total price of arms sales can be reduced by one percent, the total price is two million pounds, right?" ”

This one......

Li Hongzhang was a little overwhelmed when he saw the sudden concession of Fetley, accept it or not? If it is a rifle or artillery, he knows the price and can bargain as much as he wants, but the battleship is different, he doesn't know so much about the battleship, whether it is suitable or not, it can't be confirmed at all, and it will be reduced by 300,000 pounds in one go, it is said that the sincerity of the British is there, but will there be a trap?

Li Hongzhang was a little hesitant, and when he saw that Li Hongzhang was a little hesitant, he was secretly happy in his heart, and hurriedly struck while the iron was hot, and said: "Lord Li, our British Empire has given up the interests of 300,000 pounds in one go, and this money can buy a thousand heavy machine guns!" ”

Yes, a heavy machine gun is only about 300 pounds, such a big concession, it is really a lot, but Li Hongzhang always felt a little bad in his heart......

Suddenly, Li Hongzhang saw a staff officer standing at the door and signaled to him, Li Hongzhang understood and said with a smile: "Mr. Fitley, it's getting late now, it's time to finish eating and rest, why don't you stop here today and continue tomorrow?" ”

Fettley was a little anxious and shouted, "Master Li, the stakes are very high, it's better for us to finish it today......

Li Hongzhang said with a smile: "It's okay to finish it today, but now the old man is a little hungry, the emperor is not hungry, eat first, and after the meal, we can continue, isn't it?" ”

When Fitley heard Li Hongzhang say this, he was also a little helpless, so he had to agree to Li Hongzhang's suggestion.

Li Hongzhang arched his hand towards Fetley and walked out first.

"Your Majesty, the minister always feels a little unsure in his heart, although the British have made concessions, a full concession of 300,000 pounds, you are proficient in military weapons, what is your opinion on this?"

Li Hongzhang asked.

Guo Ye replied lightly: "What, Quan Shuai, are you a little tempted?" ”

"Yes, it's really tempting, the concession of 300,000 pounds, I can't be unmoved, this is also close to the bottom line of my bargaining......"

"My Quan Shuai, if you come to an agreement like this, you will be killed by the British!" (To be continued.) )