Until the next morning, Qin Lang was still thinking about Dierman. He was sure once again that Mr. Senator had given himself a great problem - the development www.biquge.info of a new long-barreled main gun, a rangefinder, and a firing director was already a very difficult and costly task, and he wanted to add a triple turret and a steam turbine...... The gentlemen in the Senate will probably not hesitate to reject his proposal.

It's better not to have that happen. Qin Lang's purpose in painstakingly putting forward the concept and key details of the "dreadnought" warship was naturally to see the US Navy build it and provoke a new arms race at sea, rather than to make the Senate shocked by the high cost of this new type of warship.

He began to pray. It is to be hoped that Mr. Dierman will not be influenced by his own personal interests when he speaks in the Senate......

At the same time, Desmond•Harrington and three of his colleagues were secretly praying that today's negotiations would not embarrass them too much - but it would not be easy. Qin Lang and Rachel will definitely not give in, they are both well aware of this, and the War Department ...... At least the telegram that Harrington had just received indicated that the War Office was not going to compromise for the time being.

Washington's instructions were simple and clear, the conditions proposed by the Great Viper Arms Company were beyond the bottom line that the Army could afford and that it would set an extremely bad precedent, so it was absolutely unacceptable.

So what should we do? Stick to the original conditions or come up with a new one? "Kevin•Captain Bacon read the telegram three times, but never found any specific instructions on the terms of the negotiations." Nothing was said on telegram. ”

"Neither willing to compromise nor proposing new conditions, today's negotiations can be concluded soon. It doesn't even have to start at all. The other of the two majors, Major Robert•Major Payne, shook his head in disgust, "I hate this kind of thing." ”

"Fortunately, we don't see sentences like, 'You decide for yourself,'" Major James•Major MacDonald shrugged, "and it shows that the War Office has no intention of putting us on the blame." ”

"Either way, I think it would be a huge mistake to accept this task." Harrington had despaired of the mission he had undertaken. Between the arms companies that refused to budge and the War Department, the fate of a small man like him, who could only play the role of a mouthpiece, was undoubtedly extremely tragic.

He was like a rat in a bellows - of course, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel had never heard of the proverb that "a rat gets angry at both ends of the bellows", but his present situation was very similar to that of the mouse.

However, he had already drilled into the bellows, and he had to stay in them until the two ends of the bellows were agreed......

A depressed Lieutenant Colonel Harrington walked into the conference room of the Great Viper Weapons Company with three of his equally depressed colleagues.

Qin Lang, Rachel, and the company's legal counsel were already waiting for them in the conference room. After a few brief pleasantries and an exchange of views on the weather, the negotiations began in earnest.

Of course, today's situation is not much different from yesterday's, and in less than ten minutes, the officers have fallen into a state of speechlessness...... Almost; In the moment of crisis when they were about to be completely defeated, Lieutenant Colonel Harrington used a last resort: patriotism.

"Mr. Qin, Miss McBride, as a citizen of the United States of America and as a patriot, you have an obligation to contribute to the maintenance of peace, stability, democracy and freedom in the United States." He spread his hands, "You ......"

Rachel interrupted him. "Lieutenant Colonel Harrington, I love democracy, I love the United States, and I am willing to contribute to the maintenance of peace, stability, democracy and freedom in the United States, but I do not think that there is any contradiction between patriotism and the legitimate acquisition of wealth. At the same time, I do not think that there will be anything to lose from the conditions that the War Department promised us. After a pause, she added, "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, will the Army be forced to disarm because of our conditions?" ”

Rachel's speech almost made Qin Lang laugh out loud - it was almost plagiarizing his speech. However, Harrington didn't find it interesting at all, on the contrary, it was tricky—but it was still Qin Lang who was even trickier.

"I remember that many of the great statesmen of the United States, including Thomas•President Jefferson, believed that the Union Army was the worst enemy of American democracy." He smiled like a devil, "Lieutenant Colonel Harrington, as a patriot, do you think I should follow the teachings of the Founding Fathers?" ”

Not only Harrington, but the other three officers were also maddened by his statement. But what else can they do? Qin Lang's argument is the same as that of those members and gentlemen in the Congress, although this is indeed very absurd, but it is not so easy to refute.

The United States is a democratic country controlled by Congress, and military personnel are not allowed to interfere in political decision-making. Officers of the federal army must always keep this in mind. No matter how unhappy they are with the status quo, they can only complain in private, and if they criticize Congress's policies in public, it means trouble.

Therefore, although they were cursing Qin Lang, Jefferson, and many other founding fathers in their hearts, the only expression on the four officers was an embarrassed smile.

Talking about patriotism with an American citizen? It's just a matter of building momentum and smashing yourself in the foot.

The last card also failed, and a frustrated Harrington had to lead his comrades out of the "battlefield" again. They could only send another telegram to Washington, informing the War Department of the outcome of the negotiations and asking for new terms for the negotiations, or a new, more autonomous negotiating leader.

It wasted another whole day, but the telegram they received the next day made the officers feel that more time had been wasted -- the War Department's call back was simpler than the previous one: Stay the course, Washington is behind you.

Such a reply did nothing to help the negotiations.

The situation is simple: if you want to continue and complete the negotiations, you must either agree to the conditions proposed by the opponent or put forward a new one, otherwise it would be meaningless for George • Washington to get up from his grave and rush to San Diego.

Lieutenant Colonel Harrington had no choice but to send another telegram to the War Department.

Another day passed, and he received a new reply: try to delay as much time as possible.

"It means that the War Office bureaucrats have finally decided to do something," Captain Bacon was happy for a moment, perhaps less than a minute, and then became frustrated again, "but who knows when they will finish arguing and make a decision?" ”

"Who knows," Major Payne apparently did not care about the issue, he only cared about one point, "what should we do now?" ”

"What else can be done?" Harrington shrugged, "Continue to negotiate and try to stall for as long as possible." ”

"How?" MacDonald wondered.

But Harrington didn't know, and neither did the others. There are many differences between business negotiations and war, and none of the officers have fought in any battles. They didn't know how to stall for time, so they had to go to the Big Viper Arms Company every morning to "negotiate" on time, reiterate something new, and then leave fifteen minutes later.

Of course, Qin Lang and Rachel were very clear about their purpose—it was almost clearly written on the officers' faces. They didn't have time to waste on these foolish soldiers, and once they knew that Harrington and his comrades had come to negotiate just to stall for time, they stopped coming forward, leaving only legal counsel to negotiate with the officers.

In the eyes of the four officers, this was simply painful ordeal. Unfortunately, this painful life accompanied them for ten days, and then the bureaucrats of the War Department finally made a decision, proposing a new condition.

They demanded that the Grand Viper Arms Company reduce the licensing fee that should be paid per rifle from three dollars to one dollar.

"This decision is not good, I will not change my conditions." Qin Lang rejected this new condition without any hesitation, "Three dollars per rifle is charged, neither too much, nor too much, just right." ”

"It's just your own opinion, Mr. Qin," Harrington had already anticipated this result when he received the telegram, and he was only making a last-ditch effort, "I think you should seriously consider this condition." You see, if the Commonwealth's arsenal produces half a million rifles, you can easily get half a million dollars......"

"But we want to get $1.5 million." "Mr. Lieutenant Colonel, I think I said a long time ago that three dollars per rifle is half the profit we make from selling rifles ourselves," Rachel said. ”

"I know, but I still want you to think about the conditions of the War Department."

"We've thought about it, no." Qin Lang and Rachel shook their heads at the same time.

"Okay......"

As soon as the officers left the Great Viper Arms Company, they sent a telegram to the War Office, perhaps the last. "Negotiations break down, please send a competent gentleman to take over our work."

Then they returned to the hotel where they were staying and began to pack their bags. In the eyes of the officers, they simply did not have the ability to solve the immediate dilemma, so the War Department would definitely recall them to Washington and send another capable guy to take over the work here.

But they were wrong.

Just thirty minutes after the telegram was sent, Washington's call back reached Harrington. "You have the right to make changes to the terms of negotiation, please sign the agreement as soon as possible, and good luck to you."

"Do you know what that means?" Harrington asked the other three.

"It means we're going to take the blame for the War Department."

(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.) )