The owner of the antique store originally falsely reported the price, the $125 sale price has a lot of moisture, and the $110 purchase price is even greater, and the average price of the antiques he sells on weekdays cannot reach $110, if he is allowed to buy it for $110, he will definitely lose money.

If it's another industry, it doesn't matter if you deliberately quote a high price, something that was originally sold for 100 yuan, but if it was sold for 150, others have no choice, and it is not illegal to brag anyway. But doing antiques is different, the antique industry not only sells goods, but also receives, blows the price too high, and people come back to sell antiques, that is not to collect a loss of one.

The owner of the antique shop came to help the French envoy, but he couldn't afford to lose money, if Chen Qiang took a large number of antiques to sell, would he accept it or not? According to the price said by the owner of the antique shop, if you collect it, you will lose money, and if you don't collect it, your reputation will be gone.

In the next second, the owner of the antique store changed his words without hesitation: "I may have miscalculated, how can the average purchase price reach 110 US dollars!" ”

"How much is that?" Chen Qiang asked again.

"Well...... I'm going to go back and do the math. The antique shop owner spoke.

The other two antique shop owners also nodded: "Yes, we're going to go back and calculate it." ”

Chen Qiang nodded: "Okay, I'm looking forward to the results of the three calculations." But I hope that the three of them will do the math carefully, and if the price is right, I will be more than willing to sell some of my collection of antiques to the three of them. ”

Chen Qiang knew that the three of them were afraid that they were going to make a price with the French envoy, so he simply revealed a hint of threat in the last sentence, which made the expressions of the three antique shop owners become embarrassed.

……

Another day later, the three antique shop owners offered a new average purchase price, $90.

Chen Qiang knew that this was definitely not the real average purchase price of the antique store owner, and the actual average purchase price would definitely be less than 90 US dollars, but such a price had already met Chen Qiang's psychological expectations.

Chen Qiang's purpose was to take away the more than 30,000 Chinese cultural relics from the French, even if the price was a little more expensive, Chen Qiang could accept it. And $90 is even cheaper than the average price of Chen Qiang's antique store to buy Chinese cultural relics. Moreover, the recovery of more than 30,000 cultural relics at one time also saved Chen Qiang a lot of time costs.

"Mr. Special Envoy, according to the average price of $90, then 22,400 antiques are $2 million." Chen Qiang directly omitted the odds.

The French envoy said: "Mr. Chen, this price is too low, add a little more!" ”

"Mr. Special, $2 million is a lot. That's enough for you to arm seventy or eighty thousand soldiers! Chen Qiang said.

"Seventy or eighty thousand? Mr. Chen, you must be kidding, it costs $170 to equip an army soldier in the United States, and that's not counting heavy machine guns, flamethrowers and other suppressive weapons. With this $2 million, it's good to be able to arm 10,000 people. The French envoy shook his head and said.

"Is the equipment of the French army as expensive as that of the American army?" Chen Qiang asked rhetorically.

During World War II, the U.S. military's equipment was the most expensive, an M1 semi-automatic rifle, the highest purchase price was as high as 83 US dollars, and the M2 heavy machine gun, the U.S. military's purchase price was 1,560 US dollars. Seeing this price, it is obvious that the US military-industrial complex is pit the money of the treasury.

Compared with the Japanese army's 38 large cover, it only costs 80 yen, and the most commonly used MP40 submachine gun in the German army has superior performance than the American M3 submachine gun, and the price is 24 US dollars. The Mauser 98K rifle, the most widely used in the German army, costs about $28.5.

In addition to weapons, the US military's individual equipment and logistical support are also very expensive. In addition to the equipment and items needed for normal combat, the U.S. military would smoke cigarettes, eat chocolate, drink cola, and even eat ice cream, and on days like Halloween, they would send turkeys from the continental United States to the Pacific front, all of which were money.

It is not an exaggeration to say that the US military at that time was a stupid son of a landlord's family.

The militaries of other countries do not have the same treatment as the US military, and they cannot afford to pay so much. Even if the treatment is about the same, it doesn't cost so much money to the US military. For example, the Italian army during World War II was treated very well, with meat, wine, smoke, and women from time to time, but the cost was much less than that of the American army.

When the Americans fight a war, whether they can win it or not, it is certain that they will burn money desperately, and the same will be true in the future, and it is common for US troops stationed in Iraq to drive helicopters to buy takeaways.

Although the French army is regarded as a first-class elite army in Europe, it is certainly inferior to the US army in terms of sophistication, or even inferior to the German army, and it will definitely not cost 170 US dollars to arm a French army.

The French envoy also knew that the US military was burning money, and France could not burn money like the US army even before the fall of the country, but he still defended: "Although the expenses of our French army are not as good as those of the US army, they are still a lot, at least in Europe, the cost is relatively high." ”

Chen Qiang smiled slightly, lowered his voice and said, "As far as I know, your country is planning to recruit new recruits in the African colonies, right?" Does the Special Envoy feel that it is necessary for the recruits recruited in the African colonies to be equipped with the same equipment as the regular French troops? It seems to me that those recruits from the colonies, give them an M1911, a couple of grenades, a set of military uniforms and a steel helmet. ”

"Uh......" The French envoy pondered for a moment, and finally nodded helplessly: "Mr. Chen, what you said is very reasonable. ”

M1911 is the main battle weapon of the U.S. Army during World War I, but after the advent of the M1 rifle, M1911 was gradually eliminated, and after the outbreak of the Pacific War, the U.S. Army has all replaced the M1 Garand rifle, and most of the eliminated M1911 rifles were used for training, and some of them were given to the allies as material support.

Although the M1911 rifle was a World War I equipment, it was also a good weapon at the time, and the infantry of European countries during World War II was mainly based on submachine guns and leash guns, such as the Lee Enfield SMLEMark III. rifle used by the British was developed during World War I and improved in the thirties; The German Mauser 98K is not strong, and it was also developed during World War I and reformed before World War II. At that time, only Americans had the deep pockets to afford the M1 semi-automatic rifle. After World War II, the Soviets developed the powerful AK47, which established the superiority of firearms, which also forced the United States and NATO to develop new guns, which changed the situation of bolting as the main battle rifle.

The soldiers recruited by France in the African colonies are all black people of African descent, for the French, these soldiers of African descent are cannon fodder on the battlefield, and the French do not expect African American soldiers to fight like the regular French army, and the real combat effectiveness of the Allied forces still has to rely on the British and American troops.

De Gaulle's original intention in deciding to recruit soldiers of African descent was also to gain more voice among the Allies. The French could not have trusted these soldiers of African descent recruited from the colonies, and in the eyes of the French, these soldiers of African descent had little fighting power, otherwise Africa would not have been colonized.

A nation that cannot even protect its homeland will not be respected.

Therefore, the equipment given by France to African-American soldiers naturally cannot be like the regular French army, as Chen Qiang said, a gun, a few grenades, a military uniform, and a steel helmet are enough. And the gun is still the M1911 that was eliminated by the United States. This set of equipment doesn't cost a lot of money.

However, in Chen Qiang's opinion, such a piece of equipment is already luxurious. After all, on the other side of the world, in China, countless Chinese soldiers do not even have such equipment, and some even only have cold weapons, but they are still fearlessly fighting the invaders.

……

The two sides signed a contract at a price of 2 million US dollars, but when the contract was signed, the number of cultural relics purchased by Chen Qiang was more than 32,000 pieces, and as for how much could be delivered in the end, it depended on Chen Qiang's luck. If Chen Qiang is lucky, only a small part of these cultural relics will be damaged, and if Chen Qiang is unlucky, it is possible that all these cultural relics will be destroyed in the war.

This is more like a gambling agreement, betting on how much of the more than 30,000 cultural relics can be left in the end, but Chen Qiang knows that the winner of this bet must be himself, after all, in the future, the more than 30,000 Chinese cultural relics in the Louvre Museum are real.

The guarantor sought by the French envoy was none other than Congressman Harry Truman, the future President Harry Truman. With President Truman as a guarantor, Chen Qiang did not worry that the French would default on their debts.

For 2 million US dollars, buy more than 32,000 cultural relics, if you can get them in the end, it is definitely worth the money. If it weren't for the fact that the French were really short of money, and if it weren't for the fact that these cultural relics were "futures", Chen Qiang would not have been able to buy so many cultural relics at such a low price.

But considering that this is the 40s, $2 million is also a lot of money.

To make a simple comparison, Chen Qiang's investment in "Mrs. Minifer" was the global box office champion in 1942, the film achieved a box office of 5.38 million in the United States and 3.5 million overseas box office, adding up to 8.9 million US dollars, and this box office was also a leader in the late thirties and early forties. The $2 million spent by Chen Qiang on antiques is equivalent to nearly a quarter of the box office revenue of the year's top-grossing film.

In the future, the global box office champion in 2018 is "Avengers 3", with a total global box office of $2 billion, and a quarter is $500 million, which is also an astronomical figure, and it is estimated that in 2018, no one is willing to spend $500 million to buy antiques.

The $2 million, Chen Qiang feels that it is worth the money, and in the future he will donate all this batch of antiques to China, so that Chinese do not have to go to foreign countries to see the treasures of their country.

……

After the completion of the transaction, the French envoy specially hosted a banquet for Chen Qiang and Congressman Truman, the guarantor of the transaction.

Chen Qiang felt that this was a good opportunity to get closer to Truman, after all, President Roosevelt only had two years to live, and the Western world would be Truman's world for the next few years.

As Roosevelt's successor, it is indisputable that Truman's light was overshadowed by Roosevelt, but looking at what Truman did during his administration, such as dropping the atomic bomb on Japan, implementing the Marshall Plan, promoting the Truman Doctrine, establishing NATO against the Soviet Union, recognizing Israel, participating in the Korean War, etc., it can be seen that Truman was also a very strong president. If he can have a good relationship with Truman, after Roosevelt's death, Chen Qiang can also have one more backer.

Truman was also happy to maintain a good relationship with a rich man like Chen Qiang, after all, to be a politician in the United States is to face elections, and elections need to cost money, and capitalists need to provide enough political contributions.

Truman in 1943 did not dare to hope for the position of president, after all, Roosevelt was still there, and Roosevelt's fourth re-election was a foregone conclusion, and at this special time, no one would challenge Roosevelt.

If Truman wanted to continue to climb the ladder, he had to make some achievements and get Roosevelt's favor and promotion. Truman's main work in the past two years has also been placed in this area. In 1941, he proposed the creation of an investigative body to discover and correct the wasteful, inefficient, and war-profiting practices of the United States in the war production, and this commission of inquiry was the Senate Select Committee on National Defense Program Investigations. Truman himself chaired the committee, so this committee was also called the "Truman Committee."

In the future, the "Truman Commission" will be called the most successful investigative effort in the history of the U.S. government, because it really found a lot of problems. Compared with the cost of military installations, such as cutting corners in shipyard construction, etc., in the end, the Truman Commission saved the United States 15 billion dollars, and Truman was widely acclaimed, he appeared on the cover of Time magazine, and became the person that ordinary people rushed to talk about. Roosevelt was also impressed by Truman's outstanding performance, and finally President Roosevelt decided to nominate Truman as vice president of the United States in the presidential election.

……

Although there were not many people attending the dinner, the dinner scene was staggered.

Truman drank the remaining wine from his glass, then motioned to the waiter not to add any more wine.

"I've drunk enough and can't drink anymore." Truman waved his hand, then explained: "I have an important negotiation tomorrow, and I must stay awake. ”

"Hehe, I almost forgot that you are an important representative of the US government in the negotiations, unlike me, just an observer." The French envoy replied with a smile.

Only Chen Qiang's face was blindfolded, and he didn't know what the two were talking about.

Truman also wanted to befriend Chen Qiang, a wealthy man, so he lowered his voice and explained: "British Prime Minister Winston Churchill led a delegation to Washington, D.C., and started a negotiation with the U.S. government in order to resolve some differences between the two sides over the opening of a second theater in Europe and military operations in the Mediterranean and Burma. It was supposed to be a secret negotiation, but now the negotiations are known to the entire Washington leadership, so it is not a secret, and your country has sent representatives to participate in this meeting. ”

"We, China, too, sent people? I don't know if I recognize it. Chen Qiang said subconsciously.

"You should know, it's the same Mr. Song who has been in the United States for a long time." Truman replied.

"It turned out to be him, I really know him, but I didn't expect Chongqing to send him over again." Chen Qiang nodded and said.

Chen Qiang didn't take this kind of high-level matter to heart, and he didn't have the qualifications to meddle in this kind of thing.

After the dinner, Chen Qiang returned to the hotel, where he planned to return to New York by train tomorrow.

However, the front desk of the hotel handed Chen Qiang a piece of paper.

"Mr. Chen, a Mr. Kong came to you just now, and then he left an address for you to find him as soon as you come back!" The front desk manager spoke.

"Mr. Kong? No need to ask, it must be the eldest son of Kong! How did he get to Washington? Chen Qiang was slightly stunned, and then looked at the address written on the paper.

It was a famous nightclub in Washington.

I have to say that choosing this kind of place is really in line with the style of Prince Kong!

——————

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