Yang Ru, the Qing government's appointed minister to the United States, Spain, and Peru, was angry; Although, as a well-educated, well-educated, and rich old man with rich life experience, Yang Ru is rarely angry, but he is indeed angry now. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

The culprit that had caused him to be angry was in his hand, a crumpled telegram. A few days ago, he had offered the United States Government to purchase a shipment of firearms and ammunition on the orders of the Military Aircraft Service, and now the American businessman responsible for supplying the weapons had sent him a telegram inviting him to San Diego to negotiate and sign a formal agreement.

In fact, this is just a small meaning, a normal routine, but Yang Ru sees this invitation as a humiliating provocation: he is a diplomat representing the Chinese government, a young secretary of Taichang Temple, and a big man of status, how can he negotiate with a few businessmen for a trivial matter?

And according to past experience, negotiations always mean long, heated quarrels, which is obviously even more inconsistent with his identity.

In order to save his face, Yang Ru decided to refuse the invitation.

However, his attitude was never a matter of Qin Lang's concern, but he also expected that the extremely traditional minister would refuse his invitation, so he added an almost ultimatum warning to the telegram: if Yang Ru refused to go to San Diego, he would immediately terminate the deal and refuse to provide any weapons and ammunition......

This warning is like a red cloth waving up and down in front of the bull's eyes, and the effect is obvious.

"How can this be true? Outrageous! Yang Ru shouted indignantly, and there was only a little left of his usual calm posture, and it would soon disappear - it seemed so. A small Western merchant had the audacity to blackmail a dignified Qing envoy...... Furious! It's so rampant! It just doesn't make sense......"

He was obviously a little incoherent, but the people who were standing respectfully or sitting in the spacious living room, his staff and entourage, the only thing they could do was sit quietly, without saying a word, and watch their clients and superiors continue to roar angrily.

No one was ready to comfort Yang Ru. It's not that they're not loyal enough or respectful enough to Yang Ru, it's just that none of them have yet thought about how to comfort him or solve the little trouble in front of them - not because these staff and followers are not smart enough, but because the whole thing seems to have reached a dead end.

Because of treaty restrictions, the imperial court in Beijing could only buy American-made firearms; Because of Qin Lang's agreement with the consortium, Yang Ru's order could only be handed over to the Great Viper Weapons Company - of course, even if other companies got the order, they would not be able to provide weapons that met the requirements: even after all these years, the only military-spec rotary bolt-pull rifle on the American market was still the Predator, and it was the only one equipped with a pointed bullet.

The Great Viper Weapons Company is Yang Ru's only choice, and any customer can only accept all the company's demands unconditionally in front of a monopolistic enterprise, otherwise he will get nothing.

"Monopoly means almost unlimited profits." Qin Lang let out a long sigh of satisfaction. "It's a pity that we don't really have a monopoly."

But in fact there is no pity at all, there is no real monopoly at all, and once a group looks like it is going to monopolize the industry it operates, the opposing forces, and even its former allies, will unite and force this possibility out by all means.

Rockefeller is a good example, as are Boeing and Microsoft, Qin Lang always remembers their lessons and always admonishes himself not to repeat the tragedy.

Although it is completely out of place to start worrying about it now...... It's too early.

Rachel isn't worried about monopolies, but she has other issues to worry about. "What exactly do you want to do? Let His Excellency the Minister come to San Diego to negotiate, and issue a warning - I don't think it's necessary at all. She didn't want to lose a business worth nearly four million dollars, but the warning telegram made her quite uneasy.

"Didn't I tell you, Rachel?" He was confused for a few seconds, but quickly remembered that he hadn't told her his plan, so he explained: "In fact, I plan to use this business to install some company-sent military advisers in the Chinese army." ”

Another new plan, Rachel thought, and at the same time couldn't help but look at Yi Shui—she had always been smart, and she didn't need to think twice to realize that Qin Lang's plan was largely for Yi Shui; He wanted to save China, and now Qin Lang is preparing for his dream.

Rachel cast a grateful glance at Qin Lang, but soon, her merchant consciousness regained the initiative. "Aren't you worried that Your Excellency the Minister will refuse your request?"

"I've warned him."

"I doubt your warnings will work," she said, looking worried, "and perhaps he will take the risk of a deal falling through and firmly refuse your request." ”

Qin Lang smiled. "It's a shame he won't do that."

"Why?"

Qin Lang set his eyes on Yi Shui, who was sitting on the sidelines and reading the newspaper intently—the headline on the front page was quite eye-catching, "Terrible shooting!" Revenge of the Mexican bandits! Qin Lang knew what was going on, and the killers sent by Diaz did a very good job.

Secretly happy for a few seconds, then he turned around and shrugged his shoulders deliberately nonchalantly. "Because he can't take responsibility for messing things up."

"My lord, there is no other way to do this, but to ask you to go and lie down in person." When Yang Ru finally vented his anger and regained his composure, his staff and accompanying officials began to speak. However, Yang Ru was very clear about everything they said. "If things don't work out, the court will blame ......"

Yang Ru interrupted them impatiently. "I know." Of course, he knew from the beginning that "if I can't buy this batch of weapons and ammunition, the court will definitely blame me for not doing things well." ”

"So ......"

"So the official must personally negotiate with those few Western merchants and sign a formal agreement - but what should I do with the face of the official?" The anger that had been subdued just now seemed to be burning again, making Yang Ru's staff and entourage officials feel terrified.

A "buzz" rang out in the living room. The staff and officials whispered and talked for a while, and then someone made a suggestion: "Your Excellency, perhaps you can appoint a plenipotentiary to negotiate with the Western merchants." ”

"Will it work?" Yang Ru raised his eyebrows slightly.

Under the gaze of everyone, the official who made the suggestion slowly stood up with an expression on his face like a mouse that had been selected to tie a bell to the cat. "It should work."

The annoyed gaze focused on the unfortunate fellow, and then, squeezing a word out of Yang Ru's teeth. "Should?"

"It will work." The official hurriedly changed his answer - at this moment, he did not realize how much trouble his answer would bring, "The purpose of those Western merchants is nothing more than to get more benefits, as long as someone agrees to their terms, it doesn't matter who negotiates......"

"Really?" The expression on Yang Ru's face was still not so good-looking, but in fact, he was secretly happy. He had long thought of appointing a plenipotentiary negotiator, and had also thought of another advantage of the idea: if the conditions of the Western merchants were so harsh as to cause displeasure in the imperial court, he had another person whom he could shirk responsibility.

Of course, this kind of small trick does not always avoid risks, and anyone can easily see through it, but it is better to have such a measure than no measure at all. Moreover, as long as the trouble caused is not too serious and does not cause the wrath of the Queen Mother or the Emperor, the officials in charge of the investigation will not be too serious, as long as there is a guy who can make them deal with it, and no one cares whether he is a scapegoat or not.

Yang Ru laughed to himself, the matter was very simple, and he had found the unlucky guy who carried the black pot for himself: it was the guy in front of him, Bai Siwen, the new translator who had just arrived a week ago - the previous translator was robbed on the streets of Lima, unfortunately injured, and is still lying in the hospital - although there was no reason, Yang Ru began to dislike Bai Siwen when he first saw him, and always wanted to get him away, and now there is a chance.

"Since you think you will be able to succeed," Yang Ru deliberately pretended to be cold and stern, and his voice was also cold and cold, "Bai Siwen, this official appointed you as a plenipotentiary negotiator, go to the ......" He wanted to continue, but suddenly forgot the name of the city, so he had to smile and turn to his staff, "What is that place called?" ”

But the name of the city was not an important issue that needed to be addressed immediately, so he had already gone on before he could get an answer. "In short, Bai Siwen, this matter will be handed over to you by the official, if there is anything wrong, you don't have to continue to suffer here, it is better to go back to the Beijing Shitongwen Hall to teach Mandarin."

In fact, although he had studied at Tongbunkan for eight years, Bai Siwen was not qualified to enter Tongwenkan to teach Bahasa Malaysia...... But what does it matter? Yang Ru's words were just a warning that people had to pay attention to, and Bai Siwen was completely able to comprehend his intentions.

So it was decided. Yang Ru strode out of the living room, and then the others also left, leaving only the stunned Bai Siwen standing alone and continuing to be stunned.

It was a while, maybe a few minutes, before he seemed to come to his senses. "Why me?"

God, this is terrible. (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )