Wang Zhen and Hartmann were frustrated, they had spent two weeks, but neither could get an audience with Yuan Shikai, who was training new troops at the Tianjin station. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 infoYuan Shikai was very clear that he was too busy with work to meet with two unknown arms dealers, and suggested that they go to Beijing to visit the Minister of War, which would obviously be more effective if they were going to sell arms. Although Wang Zhen and Hartman insisted that they only wanted to have a courtesy visit, no one believed this statement.

"This must be the trick of those Prussian hillbillies...... Despicable conspiracy. When the two of them studied the problem again, Hartman suddenly said, "They can't sell their Mauser guns, so they slander us in front of Minister Yuan, and they want us to not be able to sell weapons." ”

He put all the blame on the German military advisers hired by Yuan Shikai without the slightest hesitation, and he was extremely angry about it.

In a way, Hartmann's speculation was very close to the truth, and the German military advisers hired by Yuan Shikai did suggest that he not waste his time on two Americans, and they also hoped that Yuan Shikai would persuade Beijing not to import guns and ammunition, but to equip troops with large quantities of imitation Mauser rifles - and some even said that the German government was willing to help China build a new large arsenal.

Before these military advisers left for China, they had received clear instructions from the General Staff and the Mauser Company that one of their main tasks in China was to prevent the United States from selling weapons to China. As Qin Lang speculated, although Berlin did not object to the United States gaining a monopoly on the sale of light weapons in China, it would still take steps to interfere with the implementation of the treaty.

Of course, other European countries, Great Britain, France, Russia, Italy, Austria...... Every country that could afford to export weapons secretly took the same action, but Yuan Shikai did not have military advisers from these countries by his side, and their voices could not reach his ears.

However, it made no difference, Yuan Shikai would not accept their advice, and was not prepared to accept the advice of German military advisers; A large arsenal is a tempting suggestion, but not enough to make him submit a recital to Beijing, even if it is only a few suggestive phrases.

But Yuan Shikai also did not want to meet Hartmann and Wang Zhen, again not because of the advice of German military advisers, but because he felt that it was unnecessary: the Qing government had signed a treaty with the United States, and China could only buy light weapons from the United States, so the arms dealers as an intermediary link became a redundant burden.

Moreover, meeting with such people can also cause unnecessary trouble, and Yuan Shikai fears that some political opponents will use the matter as an excuse to attack him. While such attacks usually have few serious consequences, they are at least uncomfortable, and he doesn't intend to make himself feel bad – one that reminds him of his days as the plenipotentiary in North Korea that were anything but pleasant.

Yuan Shikai's ideas were unknown to Hartman and Wang Zhen, and they could only guess their wishes based on some real or untrue information they had, but most of the time, doing so could only lead to some wrong ...... Or at least inaccurate conclusions.

German military advisers in the Forces nouvelles unfortunately became the culprits.

"Damn Prussian hillbillies," Hartmann shouted fiercely, waving a clenched fist, "I'm going to give them a little color...... When the time comes. ”

Wang Zhen looked at his partner in surprise, puzzled by his reaction. He knew that Hartmann was a descendant of Germans who had immigrated to the United States, and that Prussia was part of Germany, so it seemed to him that the military advisers hired by Yuan Shikai should be Hartmann's compatriots—but he was now behaving as if he were talking about some enemy, and that hatred was too strong to be resolved.

It's just so weird.

"Easter......" Wang Zhen cautiously interrupted Hartman's swearing, "There's a problem, uh...... I remember that you were German. ”

"Americans." Hartmann resolutely identified himself, then smiled, "Of course I am a descendant of German immigrants, so I only curse those Prussian hillbillies." Then, he became fierce again, "I'm going to make those guys know how good we Americans are." ”

Wang Zhen still couldn't fully comprehend all this, and after a moment of confusion, he told himself that it was better not to consider why Hartmann saw himself as an American and not a German, and with the knowledge he had, he could not think of what it was; As for Hartmann's discrimination against the Prussians, Wang Zhen was not at all surprised.

Regional discrimination, this kind of thing is also very common in China, Wang Zhen has been to many places, he knows that some people look down on Henan people, some people look down on Cantonese people, some people look down on Sichuan people...... Of course, if it were Pekingese, they would think that all provincials were hillbillies.

Apparently the same is true for Hartmann.

Wang Zhen shrugged his shoulders secretly, sighed, and then asked, "What are you going to do?" ”

"I don't know." The answer was as clean as ever.

Wang Zhen was stunned for a moment. "Uh...... You don't know? ”

"I don't know." Hartmann sighed in frustration, "Yes, as much as I would love to give those Prussian hillbillies a little color, unfortunately they are military advisers hired by His Excellency Minister Yuan, and we can do nothing unless he dismisses them." ”

"Obviously we can't do this," a conclusion that does not need to be considered at all. "Let Lord Yuan remove him from his position as a German military adviser, I bet that even Mr. Qin and Miss Kebride can't do this." Wang Zhen sighed helplessly.

Yes, Qin Lang and Rachel can't do it either—and even Washington probably can't. Regardless of size, combat effectiveness, or international influence, the U.S. Army simply can't match the German Army, and certainly no one intends to hire U.S. officers as military advisers.

Hartman nodded reluctantly. "That's true."

Wang Zhen continued to look at him. "It's bad, isn't it? Easter, what do we do next? ”

Hartman lowered his head and pondered for a moment. "Do nothing, wait patiently—just as Mr. Qin and Miss McBride have asked us to do. Or...... We can go south and try it. ”

South? "Are you going to Wuchang to visit Master Zhang?" Wang Zhen couldn't help but think of Zhang Zhidong, the governor of Huguang, who was training another new army in Hubei. But this is clearly a new mistake: Zhang Zhidong prefers to produce his own weapons than Li Hongzhang, who likes to import weapons, and it is better to expect him to buy the company's products than to expect Rong Lu or Yuan Shikai to suddenly change their minds - and it even seems much easier to dispel Li Hongzao's prejudice against them.

Wang Zhen swears that Hartman's planned trip to the south will also come to nothing, but the bad thing is that he doesn't seem to realize it yet.

At least from the look on his face, Hartman looked confident, as if he had succeeded.

"You seem to have forgotten our competitor, East," Wang Zhen reminded, "that the Hubei Gun Factory is a military enterprise established under the auspices of Mr. Zhang, and he will not buy our weapons." ”

"I remember knowing as well as you do, King, but my target is not the stubborn Governor." Hartman shrugged, "Let's go to Guangdong." ”

"Guangdong?"

"Guangdong, to be exact, is the Guangzhou Bay Concession."

"Why are we going there?" This seems to be another mistake, and their goal is to make sales, but a trip to the Guangzhou Bay Concession, far from China's political center, is clearly contrary to that goal – the officials who have the power to buy foreign weapons are all in the city of Beijing, and there is nothing in the concession.

Of course, the mercenaries sent by the company are still there......

But Hartman was an American, so it was only a moment before he had thought of a supplementary plan. "If we can't sell weapons to the government, we're going to sell them to civilians."

Wang Zhen looked at him in surprise, not sure if the idea was really feasible, and he also had a slight worry: if the imperial court or local officials in Guangdong thought that they intended to collude with the rebels, or if some of the rebels bought their weapons to start a riot, then they would be in big trouble...... However, Guangzhou Bay is now an American concession, and with 1,700 soldiers sent by the company, it is theoretically a very safe place and should not be in any danger.

And Hartman is American.

I thought I was working for an American company, my partner was also an American, and I also got a U.S. army...... Fully supported by an army hired by the U.S. government, Wang Zhen calmed down, and his fear of the Qing government quickly turned into fear of unemployment.

The imperial court is nothing, and the lack of sales performance is the real problem.

He makes a decision. "That's it, let's go to Guangdong."

Hartman and Wang Zhen immediately set off, not wasting a single moment. However, while they were still slowly sailing at sea, Qin Lang and Rachel received a telegram from Washington from Lima, the capital of Peru: Yang Ru, the Qing government's minister to the United States, Spain, and Peru, sent a telegram to the U.S. State Department to purchase 80,000 rifles and 16 million rounds of ammunition from the Viper Weapons Company on behalf of the Qing government.

It's not good enough, but it's still good news, but it's completely expected and not surprising.

"You know," Qin Lang fiddled with the telegram nonchalantly, then looked up at Rachel, "As I've always emphasized, some people are worried in vain. (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.) )