Yi Shui tried to focus on the novel in his hand, while his mind kept thinking about it. Hartman and Wang Zhen never completed the task assigned to them. Pen Fun Pavilion www.biquge.info This is not a good phenomenon. Time is running by fast, and the deadline will soon be exceeded. What if he can't get back to San Diego on time, what about the purchase of the cruiser "Esmeralda"?

Should he take over the work of Hartman and Wang Zhen and discuss the deal with Li Hongzhang in person?

Yi Shui fidgeted, simply threw down the novel, and walked back and forth in the cabin with his coat on. He pondered anxiously and uneasily, and while not being able to buy the Esmeralda was not a serious loss for the company, Rachel clearly could not accept such an outcome. As for himself, the first task he was personally responsible for could not be completed, what would Qin Lang and the rest of the company think of him?

A small shareholder who only knows how to drive a small boat to do transportation at sea? Even that little bit of stake was won by Rachel from Qin Lang, and he needed to prove with practical actions that he was indeed capable of being a shareholder of the company.

And if he can't do even simple things well, how can he achieve more complex and ambitious goals in the future? Although he didn't have a similar goal yet, Yi Shui thought he should be prepared. Qin Lang is like this, he has been ready for a long time, no matter what he wants to do, he can always go and complete it.

He is the goal, a goal that Yi Shui hopes to achieve. Even though this goal may never be achieved, he will approach it little by little.

Successfully completing this mission is the first step to get closer to it. And now, Hartman and Wang Zhen seem unlikely to get their job done. Although they are more professional and try to convince him that they can do their job, will he be more sure that he will go on his own?

There are fewer and fewer options available, in case ......

There was a knock on the door, and Hamilton pushed it open and walked into the cabin. "There's news in Tokyo that all of our special medicines have been sold."

"That's good news," but Yi Shui's face didn't look happy at all, "How much?" ”

"The Japanese paid in pounds, twenty-four thousand." The captain grinned, ungraced. "Yi Shui, I never thought that those white crystals could be sold for so much money. That thing was worth a lot more than a rifle. ”

His words didn't make Yi Shui happy at all, but made him even more depressed. "It's a pity that we only have five hundred pounds of methamphetamine instead of five thousand. Otherwise we would have returned long ago...... Probably not. He shook his head, "The Japanese probably don't have that much cash. ”

"If you're referring to pound cash, neither does the Chinese government, Mr. Yi." East. Hartmann burst into the cabin, and appeared out of breath - apparently, he had run back.

"Mr. Hartman, why didn't you knock? Also, weren't you supposed to be in Lutai, and why did you return to the ship? Has the work you were responsible for has been done? "When a person is in the wrong place at the wrong time, it is inevitable that someone will get angry. What Hartmann has to do now is prove that he was in the right place at the right time, not the other way around.

"The business is settled, sir." He struggled to make his voice sound more authentic, "Wang and I have already got rid of all our rifles, and by the way, we have signed a new contract of the same amount-"

"I think your job is to get a contract for 35,000 rifles, not 15,000."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the competition is too fierce. In the Chinese government, our competitors in Europe have broader relationships than we do. And now His Excellency the Minister of Beiyang does not need so many rifles. ”

This is an incomplete description. The competition between him and Wang Zhen was indeed fierce, and there were many professional arms dealers or foreign agents in the homes and offices of Prime Minister Yi Liang and Beiyang Minister Li Hongzhang in Beijing and Tianjin, doing their best to promote their products.

In contrast to the big Viper weapons companies that are trying to enter the Chinese market, the products of European arms manufacturers have been equipped in the Chinese army for many years, and their agents also have extensive and close relationships with Chinese officials, so that in theory, they could easily cause a lot of trouble for Qin Lang's plan, or even sabotage it outright.

However, there are two things to be thankful for: first, because Li Hongzhang advocated a peaceful settlement of disputes, almost all the old guys went to Yixiao in Beijing, and the first to visit the Beiyang ministers were Hartman and Wang Zhen; Secondly, only they have ready-made weapons, and almost none of the weapons of other arms dealers have yet to be produced.

So, in fact, not much time was wasted...... In fact, the day after they met, Li Hongzhang had already decided to buy a rifle from the Great Viper Weapons Company.

And he also said that if Hartman can send a second batch of rifles to China as soon as possible, he will consider buying more rifles from Big Viper Weapons.

This is really good news, but Yi Shui is still annoyed. "In that case, why have you been delaying for so long? Mr. Hartman, I think you should know that we are pressed for time. ”

"That's the third reason I'm going to mention, sir." Hartman explained, "Wang and I wasted a few days watching His Excellency the Minister of Beiyang and the government officials in Beijing, uh...... Dispute over trifles. ”

And rightfully so. Of course, Weng Tongyi was reluctant to allocate funds to Li Hongzhang to buy weapons, and even if the personal grudges between them and the Qingliu people's habit of dragging the Westernists back, it was not surprising that he had such an attitude. In the shallow eyes of the emperor's master Weng, the Huai army already had sufficient weapons, and the purchase of weapons was just an excuse for Li Hongzhang to avoid war.

And from a political point of view, it is even more impossible to allocate funds to him.

This time, however, Li Hongzhang's attitude was resolute: either allocate funds to buy new weapons, or withdraw troops from Korea and negotiate with Japan immediately. And this happened to be the evidence that Qingliu attacked him for "fear of the enemy......

Thus, a fierce quarrel began, and both sides spat violently by telegram. This matter came to an end until Emperor Guangxu, who was paying close attention to the situation. The emperor was slightly wiser than his teacher, and ordered the household department to allocate money to Li Hongzhang - of course, Guangxu also ordered Li Hongzhang to reorganize the army for the third time, but Li Hongzhang did not intend to carry it out.

Of course, Hartmann didn't care whether his client would carry out the emperor's orders, but what happened left him confused and incomprehensible: the situation was already tense, and the voices in the central government in Beijing were growing calling for a declaration of war on Japan, but His Excellency the Minister of Military Affairs of Beiyang was wasting time arguing with His Excellency the Minister of Finance in Beijing over whether he should buy weapons......

And it is said that His Excellency the Chancellor of the Exchequer is also one of the most hard-line fighters in the government...... His attitude is incredible. How could such a ridiculous thing happen in the name of God?

Of course, he was completely unaware of the various contradictions between Li Hongzhang and Weng Tongyi, and Yi Shui didn't know much about it—but he could at least guess the political reason: as a Han minister, Lord Li's power and strength were too great, and if he continued to allocate funds to buy arms...... A scholar like Weng Tongyi, who is well-versed in the ancient world but does not understand the present, will think that Li Hongzhang is the biggest threat to the imperial court, and it is inevitable.

A long time ago, when Qin Lang predicted that China would inevitably lose the war with Japan, he had already realized that this would be one of the reasons, and now he ...... Yi Shui decided to put the issue aside. "Mr. Hartman, I apologize for the tone just now." "But I want to know, when can we go?" ”

Hartman accepted his apology, and then replied, "I'm afraid it will have to wait until tomorrow, sir." The soldiers sent by His Excellency the Minister of Beiyang to unload the goods will arrive in an hour, and our payment will only be delivered then. But our troubles may not be over yet - His Excellency the Minister of Beiyang paid silver. ”

"In China, it's not surprising."

"I know it is not surprising, but His Excellency the Minister of the North Seas has paid the equivalent of about two hundred and twenty thousand pounds of silver for the purchase and order of thirty thousand rifles, thirty machine guns, ten million rounds of ammunition, and for the purchase of warships," Hartman stressed, "and my fear is that we will not have time to exchange them for pounds sterling or Mexican silver dollars." ”

Cheques are a good option, but the Ecuadorian guys only accept cash in pounds sterling or Mexican silver dollars – they don't even want dollars......

So, the problems encountered now are really troublesome, very troublesome. Yi Shui thought for a while, "Can't you complete the exchange in Tianjin?" ”

"I've already asked, sir. It is a pity that none of the banks have the ability to complete the exchange within the time frame we have allotted"

"Alright then, now we can only pray that the Ecuadorians will accept the silver." It seems that this is the only way to do it...... Yi Shui sighed helplessly and turned to Hamilton, "Captain, get everyone ready, once the unloading is completed and the payment is received, we will set off immediately." ”

"Yes, sir." The captain nodded, hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Are you going to Tokyo first?" ”

"Yes. In the current situation, every pound counts to us. ”

(To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the WWW.CMFU.COM, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )