Sending a large investigative team of mercenaries and scholars to Dunhuang to bring back to San Diego the murals, sculptures, scriptures, and documents of the Mogao Grottoes—the kind of behavior he had learned in history textbooks as "the naked plundering of China's historical and cultural heritage by imperialist colonialists," though Qin Lang didn't care at all -- in fact, he didn't even intend to justify his plans, even though he could find a very plausible excuse. Pen, fun, and www.biquge.info

In his opinion, finding excuses is superfluous and meaningless behavior, and it is better to use it to develop a detailed course of action to perfect the plan than to waste time on it. As for history, no matter what the real history looks like, it doesn't matter to the vast majority of people in this world, whether it is the government, academia or ordinary people, what people need is really only history that meets their needs.

Therefore, since this is the case, Qin Lang knows very well that there is no need for him to worry about what bad impact the implementation of this plan may have on him.

Only the plan itself is important.

"Of course, important things are often complex and tricky, which means we have to solve a lot of problems." His gaze slowly swept over the people sitting in the room—Rachel, Yi Shui, O'Connor, Harrington, Fisborn, as well as the company's chief financial officer, legal counsel, and other senior employees—"I want to know what you guys think about this, and what advice you have on this." ”

"What are our expected benefits?" Rachel is always the first to speak out, but of course, there's still only one thing she cares about: profit.

Qin Lang smiled. "Unfortunately, Rachel, I can't give you any numbers. The only thing that is certain is that since our potential clients are willing to pay a thousand dollars for a photo, they will pay ten times more for a real mural. ”

"So how many murals can we get from that place, the Mogao Grottoes?" She asked.

The question was in fact beyond Qin Lang's knowledge: he did not know how many murals, sculptures, scriptures, and documents there were in Dunhuang - whether they were first discovered or what was left behind. Luckily, Rachel doesn't know the exact number either, so he can get around it in a way that makes sense.

"The most conservative estimate," he affirmed, "is two hundred boxes of frescoes, and a large number of sculptures, and thousands of precious volumes of Buddhist scriptures and texts." ”

The people in the conference room began to whisper—the numbers Qin Lang claimed surprised them. However, no one questioned those figures, even if they all knew that he had never been to the Mogao Grottoes - at this moment, the omniscient image that Qin Lang had always created in people's hearts played a role.

He hadn't been, but he just knew that there was nothing to doubt about it.

"Excellent." Rachel nodded. The income is what satisfies her, then the rest is the expenses. "How many mercenaries are you going to send?"

"Sean." Qin Lang kicked the ball to O'Connor.

"No more than one battalion." He replied, then turned his face sideways to speak to Harrington who was sitting next to him for a moment before adding, "It's best to keep it to eight hundred." ”

Rachel raised an eyebrow. In her opinion, eight hundred mercenaries was still too much, but on the other hand, she felt a little strange: why could the company only send eight hundred mercenaries?

"As far as I know, the company can send five regimental combat teams at any time, but right now, except for the Kimberley, we don't put mercenaries anywhere." Her gaze shifted back and forth on the faces of O'Connor, Harrington, and Qin Lang, "Why can only eight hundred mercenaries be dispatched?" ”

"Because the War Department wants us to keep at least four regimental combat teams." O'Connor explained, "The Philippine militants are said to have been carrying out a series of suicide bombings, causing heavy losses to General MacArthur's troops, who are restoring social order there, and Washington is debating the need to send him reinforcements." ”

In fact, Washington had been debating for a long time about the need to send troops to the Philippines to reinforce MacArthur -- starting while Qin Lang was still there -- rather than "on." However, the discussions have been inconclusive, and although Congress has agreed to send reinforcements, the question of whether to send mercenaries or volunteers is still a matter of great controversy.

Some people want medals, some people think that Qin Lang has made too much money in the Philippines, and this time he should be replaced by someone else, and some people just want to hit political opponents...... Traditional American soldiers, opportunists, and politicians are complicit, and Qin Lang is secretly using his connections to create more chaos. Because the situation is what he likes to see: he does not plan to return the mercenaries to Manila until the Filipino rebels have exhausted the bombs they have.

The task of the mercenary is to reap the fruits of victory, not to send them to death, and now, as he often says, the time is not ripe enough.

Of course, these were secrets that could only exist behind the scenes, and even O'Connor and Harrington had only a tiny fraction of them—though they could guess something through various clues—and as for Rachel, she had been ignorant of it just a few minutes ago.

She was surprised, it was for sure, but not the only one.

"I was really surprised by the performance of the Federal Army." Rachel said in a tone that was not just sarcastic, "Maybe I should write a letter to General MacArthur thanking him for creating a new business for us...... She paused, glanced at Qin Lang meaningfully, and continued, "...... Although we have not officially gotten it because of congressional delays, and we must keep more than 10,000 mercenaries in idleness. ”

"You'd better not do that, Rachel—"

"Just kidding, Sean. Relax, don't worry. Rachel smiled and turned to Qin Lang, "How many mercenaries are you going to send." Eight hundred? ”

"Two infantry companies, a machine-gun platoon, no more than four hundred and fifty mercenaries." Qin Lang replied.

"Very good......

Before Rachel could finish speaking, the company's legal counsel had already stepped in. "Will we put in a little less mercenaries, Mr. Qin?" "If the scholars participating in the mission are attacked by armed elements and injured or even killed by the inadequate vigilance provided by the company, the ensuing civil lawsuit will put us in a very disadvantageous position." ”

"You're a lawyer, and you're in charge of the legal issues." Rachel said bluntly, before Qin Lang could speak, and there was one more sentence she didn't say: "If you can't solve it, I'll change to a lawyer who can solve it" - she hates being interrupted, and the only thing that interrupts her is the legal counsel hired by the company - no matter what important thing he has to say, he should remain silent now.

For a moment, the lawyer's expression became a little embarrassed, but it quickly returned to normal. "I understand, ma'am. However, the safety issue ......"

"Four hundred and fifty mercenaries is enough for the task." Qin Lang interrupted him, "And we can also ask the Chinese government to send troops to provide protection." ”

"I don't think the Chinese military can be trusted." Legal counsel insisted.

Qin Lang smiled again. "Some aren't worth it, but some can."

Some of China's forces can be trusted, such as those controlled by Lan Tianwei, Wu Luzhen, and Zhang Shaozeng. In fact, when he decided to send an expedition to Dunhuang, Qin Lang added something extra to the plan according to the past practice: choose one of Lan Tianwei, Wu Luzhen, and Zhang Shaozeng to lead the army on escort missions. So, after he completes the task and returns to Beijing, he will naturally be rewarded; Then find a few scholars, or ask Conger to come forward, and give a few casual compliments in front of the emperor or the prime minister, and he will be promoted. And this meant that he could control more troops, be more powerful, and be closer to the core of the Qing government.

Theoretically, this is a good arrangement, the only problem is that the three young men may be disgusted with the assignment they are given, and it will further affect their soldiers. It's just a minor nuisance, though, and it's easy to fix it: "for the sake of the big picture", all it takes is four words. As for the rest of the junior officers and ordinary soldiers, who do not understand the profound truths about the state and the nation, it is easier for them to solve: money is always an effective tool.

Qin Lang was very confident in his arrangement. "I believe that we can hand over the security of the perimeter to the Chinese military."

"The Chinese army, trained by the company's military advisers." O'Connor agreed, "They can do the job we've put on it." ”

"Okay." The legal counsel shrugged. Since the boss of the company firmly believes that he can hand over the security work to the Chinese military, all he can do is prepare in advance for the trouble that may befall him. "Perhaps, we should explain to the scholars participating in the study tour that this event is a certain danger and that the company cannot fully guarantee their safety, so any scholar who wants to participate must consider it carefully and sign a disclaimer with us......"

"Thank you for your advice, Mr. Hawkins, I'll note that in the agreement." Qin Lang motioned for him to stop, then turned to the others, "Do you have any other opinions?" ”

"As for the four hundred and fifty mercenaries on the mission," Harrington asked, "do you need to pick all Chinese Americans?" ”

Qin Lang shook his head. "Nope. There is no point in doing that. ”

"I think sending mercenaries of Chinese descent will make it easier for our people to communicate with the locals."

"That's impossible, Lieutenant Colonel." Yi Shui sighed, "Our Chinese mercenaries are all Cantonese, and even if they are trained to understand Qin's non-standard northern official dialect, it is impossible for them to understand the dialect of the northwest. ”

Non-standard ......

Qin Lang raised his eyebrows unconsciously, pretending not to hear the word Yi Shui said—although this was indeed the case. "Communication with the locals should be entrusted to the interpreters, and to protect the Chinese troops of the expedition. But......" he paused and thought about it for a moment, "we really should have some Chinese mercenaries involved." Sean, pick a few guys who are strong, fierce, scary enough, and have enough combat experience. ”

"Speaking of which," O'Connor mused, "I do have a few good candidates. (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.) )