In front of the somewhat shabby conference table, Traun, who was dressed in a tuxedo suit and had two mustaches, didn't look at the red wine and fruits that Zhang Wenjing didn't find anywhere on the table, took out a pen and paper, and then took out the recorded confidential telegram from his bag, and after talking with the translator and military attache around him, he suddenly waved his hand, and the four German sailors who had been ordered to protect him immediately began to drive away the soldiers of the guard company ().

Rigorous and arrogant.

Typical Germans!

"It's okay, go outside and keep guard, no one is allowed to enter within five meters of the conference room." Yang Qiu beckoned Lei Meng, who was reluctant to quit, and the soldiers to go out first, leaving only Zhang Wenjing in the house.

Unlike active party members, although Zhang Wenjing also studied in Japan for a short time, he sat down face-to-face with the ministers of European countries in China for the first time, and he couldn't help but feel a little nervous, but Yang Qiu still maintained the mentality of the future, holding his hands into fists on the table and smiling at Traun to prepare. It was only after the German sailors brought him to the door that Traun glanced at the bag he had placed in his hand: "Your Excellency, Commander, before I begin tonight's meeting, I would like to ask something. ”

Because of the importance of the matter, even if Yang Qiu could understand German, the German interpreter repeated it in Chinese in a serious manner, and Traun continued: "Today my soldiers came back and told me that your troops used a large number of our Makqin machine guns and field guns in the daytime battle, where did you buy this?" ”

From the beginning of the use of the equipment, Yang Qiu knew that it was impossible for Shen Shukai to hide from Germany, so he said very simply: "Shanghai." ”

Traun was very satisfied with Yang Qiu's frankness, in fact, this is also a prerequisite for whether it can continue, because the Shanghai Consul General has already informed him of what the deal brought to Germany, the information of the new main guns of the sworn enemy France and the unexpected submarine snorkel, so that the Supreme Command called to ask the details of the trader, and it is said that His Majesty Wilhelm praised a few words, so if it was not the first time in Shanghai, he would not believe this young man who rose mysteriously overnight.

"Actually, I should be grateful to Germany for its help."

"No ()."

Yang Qiu originally wanted to flatter him, but the rigorous Traun immediately interrupted him: "That time was just business, and it didn't represent my country's position." ”

didn't expect the other party to react so quickly, Yang Qiu had no choice but to put away his careful thoughts about pulling people into the water, and said, "Then let's continue our business, I don't know if your country is not satisfied with the information before?" ”

"Unexpected." Traun didn't say anything good, just a simple sentence and then returned to the topic: "I want to see the information first." ”

Yang Qiu took out a stack of drawings from his bag and pushed them in front of the military attaché, who immediately picked up the confidential telegram and magnifying glass, and distinguished the authenticity according to the details indicated on the telegram. Except for the sound of turning pages every few minutes, the conference room fell silent, not to mention Zhang Wenjing, even Traun was waiting for the appraisal results, and the attentive Yang Qiu could even see a watermark on the collar of his shirt. After finally reading the drawings carefully, the military attache whispered a few words to Traun, although he couldn't hear clearly, but the surprise that flashed in his yellow eyes made Yang Qiu breathe a sigh of relief.

"Your Excellency, with all due respect, if that's all." Traun pushed the drawings in front of Yang Qiu: "I can give you a Makqin machine gun." ”

"Thank you, Your Excellency, do you believe that there is only that?" Yang Qiu smiled and retracted the drawings: "This place is about to become a war zone, I don't have to worry about putting so many things here." ”

Although Zhang Wenjing couldn't understand what important things in the dumb riddle could provoke the German consul to come out in person, and he was so cautious, he also heard that Yang Qiu was telling the other party that it was impossible to get these things by other means.

Traun was not surprised by this kind of caution, after all, the other party in the previous transaction in Shanghai did not come up with all the information until the end, so he immediately asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, how much does it cost to buy all the information?" ”

How much? This question really stumped Yang Qiu.

The artillery data of Britain's six main battleships and battle cruisers, the power of armor-piercing shells, the distribution of armor protection, the layout of compartments, the power configuration and other information are simply invaluable to Germany, which is fighting with Britain to build ships, because getting these is equivalent to pinching the cover door of the British Royal Navy ()! Although it is difficult to say whether we will be able to win the war, we can definitely carry out targeted combat drills and deployments. Not to mention the 380-mm super naval gun, which once gave both Britain and Germany a headache and was finally conquered until the end of 1913, Germany could have built a super battleship carrying 380-mm naval guns earlier than Britain.

And he knew in his heart that this might be the last time that the records in the data machine would be sold on such a large scale in exchange for profits, after all, after all, there would be such materials as the Hood class that was even returned to the plan, or it was from the post-World War I and World War II periods. The Germans are not good birds, and they are murderous when they were young, and it will be very troublesome to sell them now in case they turn around in the future.

So after thinking about it, he simply patted the lion and said: "Your Excellency, the value of these things is actually immeasurable for you and me, but I think your navy will definitely know that in my opinion, it can not only help your navy to strike at future enemies more accurately and reduce its own casualties, but also develop faster than the other party." I might as well tell you that this kind of cannon has been secretly developed in Britain, and they deliberately advertised that it had lowered the caliber by one inch, and if it hadn't been for my friend who took these away when he fled and slowed down the research and development, maybe it would have appeared in the North Sea next year! So I think it's worth at least two battleships! ”

"No, we will never let the Far East sell any heavy warships." Traun snapped.

He knew very well that even if Yang Qiu left a piece of information, with China's current industrial capacity, he would not want to create these things in ten years, let alone that he was now on the verge of civil war, and there was no way to concentrate all the country's resources, and once he really fell into civil strife, he might not be able to build them in twenty years!

But if the sale of two finished battleships is a different matter, politically it will also give people the suspicion and speculation that Germany fully supports Yang Qiu.

Germany needs technology, but it will never want to see a superfleet appear in the Far East, the watchdog that the British put in the Far East has already made Germany deeply dissatisfied, if two more battleships are sold to this young man, there will be more chaos here, and Germany's interests will not be guaranteed, so he simply refused: "If you insist on this condition, I think our country is willing to use other methods to achieve the goal." ”

These words are almost threatening, Zhang Wenjing is also a little nervous when he hears it, now that the big war is imminent, if Germany deviates a little Beiyang or uses warships to bombard Hankou and Hanyang, then I am afraid that the Right Route Army, which has not yet been completely formed, will really face premature death, so he hurriedly looked at Yang Qiu with his eyes ().

But Yang Qiu's face was relaxed, as if he didn't hear Traun's threat, and said with a smile: "Your Excellency, just give me two battleships, do you think I can feed them and find enough sailors?" And this is the Yangtze River, and a battleship is worth less than a torpedo boat in such narrow waters. ”

"Then what do you mean."

"Cost!"

Traun, who had just breathed a sigh of relief and had not yet touched his chair, almost wanted to jump up when he heard about the cost of two battleships, even according to the calculation of the cheapest first-generation dreadnoughts, it was 400 pounds, 80 million marks!

Zhang Wenjing, who was sitting next to him, was also stupid by the offer, although he didn't know how much a battleship cost, but the Zhenyuan and Dingyuan in Beiyang added up to a little more than 6 million marks, more than 20 years have passed, the ship is getting bigger and bigger, and the power of the cannon is also more sufficient, two! How much does that take!

That's impossible!

"5 million marks, this is our reserve price." After a moment of shock, Traun sat down instead.

Zhang Wenjing was anxious when he heard this offer, although 5 million marks is not much, he can do a lot of things! However, Yang Qiu was not in a hurry, not to mention mastering all the weaknesses of the known British capital battleships and battlecruisers, which is equivalent to pinching the heart of the British Navy, which is worth this price, just the 380mm naval gun that can be built directly according to the drawings and does not even need to be changed, can save tens of millions of development costs for Germany! So when he saw that the other party was looking directly at himself, he also took out a list that had already been prepared: "That's it, minus 1 million, but your country must provide me with these things." ”

Traun's expression remained unchanged and he immediately frowned after taking the list and reading it carefully, this is a list of industrial machinery and equipment procurement, all of which are complete sets of rifles, bullets and cannons into the production line, in addition to 3 sets of 500 tons/2 sets of 1000 tons of hydraulic presses, as well as nearly 1,000 other sets of various industrial machine tools, plus a set of synthetic ammonia manufacturing equipment, and finally four 150 kilowatt hydro alternators, with a total value of about 700,000 pounds, which is converted into about 7 million pounds in silver. The value is almost equal to the two current Hanyang Gun Factories ().

He has been in China for many years, since Yang Qiu suddenly took Hankou and Hanyang, and also appointed himself commander, he vaguely guessed that he would reintegrate the arsenal, there are too many ambitious people in this country, so he also expected that if he could gain a foothold here, he should purchase new machinery and equipment, and also considered waiting for the end of the war to contact him to take over this big deal, but he didn't expect that there would be a war soon, he did not propose a large amount of arms but repurchased machine tools and equipment, is he not worried about failure at all?

As if sensing Traun's thoughts, Yang Qiu slapped his forehead: "It's about to be a war, and it's time for our right army to replenish the armament, so I still need 20,000 rifles, 100 Makqin machine guns, 5 million rounds of ammunition, and 36 75mm field guns, all of which I can pay in cash, but they must be delivered within ten days." ”

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency, but we don't have that many arms, and it is a violation of international law to sell arms to the warring parties."

"Really?" Yang Qiu glanced at Traun and said without discounting: "I have to get the rifle and bullets, otherwise I'd rather burn these things with a fire, and I won't need them anyway!" So I can give you a little time to discuss, how about we move on in three days? ”

Something tonight really surprised Traun, especially in the Far East to make the German Navy, no! It was really surprising that His Majesty the German Emperor coveted something, so he really needed to communicate with Shanghai and China, but after putting away the pen, he suddenly asked: "Your Excellency, Commander, we understand that you want to purchase new machines for the arsenal, but why did you choose this time?" ”

"Your Excellency, I have a suggestion." Yang Qiu didn't answer, took out a check for 300,000 yuan and said with a smile: "I will pay 300,000 yuan first, and then your country will raise a full list of goods within a month, as long as the model is the latest, I can also accept the new second-hand machine, so that plus the time on the journey, you can arrive in Shanghai after a maximum of 2 months, at that time, no matter whether there is a war here, and no matter who Hubei is, as long as I am still not dead, I will trade immediately." Even if I die in battle, this money will be used as your country's freight, how about it? ”

"Aren't you afraid that I will collect money but not deliver it?" It was the first time Traun had heard of this type of trading.

"I'm just like you, I'm a credibility person!" Yang Qiu threw off his hat, but bitter water was already rising in his heart, although it was only some data, but there were thousands of drawings of the 15-inch naval gun alone, as well as armor and compartment information, although he had planned to draw a lot of this deal, but there were more left! I don't even have time to sleep now. (Bug, in fact, the drawings added up to these materials can't be transported by several trucks, but forgive me for the sake of the pig's feet growing.) ）

Traun left quickly, but he didn't take a check for 300,000 yuan, but promised that if an agreement was reached, he could trade quickly according to Yang Qiu's method, which made Zhang Wenjing very surprised and asked, "Commander, why are you in such a hurry?" Our situation is ...... now. ”

"I know what you mean, these things that Beiyang bought when he pressed the realm and couldn't win this battle are all in vain, right? I tell you, although we are in the middle of the summer, the war that is about to start will drag us to exhaustion, like a big whirlpool, a big quagmire! Our bodies cannot extricate themselves, but our eyes must go beyond war! And...... I'm convinced! I'm not going to fail...... Don't fail! ”

These words are indeed Yang Qiu's heart, and what he lacks most at present is time! According to history, two months later, the Yangxia War and the North-South peace talks will basically come to an end, even if it can be delayed slightly, it will be impossible to stop this big situation, so the central power will definitely be born, no matter how much everyone scoffs, after all, it is the nominal central power, especially the aftermath of Yuan Shikai's coming to power, the big loan for the aftermath will make Beiyang expand several times rapidly! Therefore, he must take advantage of the fact that he has not yet come to power, and the Southeast Jinpu Line has involved him too much energy, so that he can be invincible before all the forces come to their senses! Otherwise, he was in a hurry to start advancing north, and he would not let Song Ziqing take Chongqing and Guang'an.

After listening to the half-truths and half-truths, Zhang Wenjing understood that Yang Qiu was going to rise quickly with the fastest and most violent means, just like his current military deployment, the soldiers were noble and fast! It's just that Zhang Wenjing secretly glanced at him, how far is his heart? Does he want to sit in that position? If not, when a new country is born, where will the current Right Route Army go?