Chapter Thirty-two: The Brick That Opens the Door to Germany

  The gunboat brushed past the ferry, and the sideways waves it kicked up made Xiao Anguo silently curse.

  Battalions of soldiers patrolling back and forth on the docks and in the streets suddenly made the atmosphere in the three towns of Wuchang tense, because the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement had evolved into a riot, and the three towns of Wuchang, which controlled the waterways into Sichuan, became a crucial place.

  After the ferry arrived at Hankou Wharf, before he could even take a clear look around, he found his clothes being pulled by someone. Frightened, he quickly grabbed the gun handle and looked back to find it was a man carrying a bag, wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a pair of brown glasses.

  "Who are you?"

  "Haha, why doesn't big brother recognize little brother?"

  Upon hearing the familiar voice, Xiao Anguo cried and laughed: "I say, Brother Yang, what are you singing? The tone is not bad, I'll get you to make a couple of sets for me another day. Lately, I don't dare go out without dressing up."

  Yang Qiu smiled and pulled him onto the ferry, walking to a quiet place before removing his glasses and laughing: "So it's still me holding you back, big brother."

  "That's for sure." Xiao Anguo also gradually understood Yang Qiu's temperament and joked, "Brother is still expecting to ask you for compensation fees." After the two exchanged a few playful remarks and dispelled their recent annoyance, Yang Qiu asked, "How's the handover of Pingku going?"

  "The brothers inside are not bad, although they don't have a nobleman to help them like you do, but they're still getting by. Besides..." Xiang Ankou knew Yang Qiu's thoughts and only whispered in his ear when no one was paying attention: "I went into the armory and took a look, the guards shouldn't be too much trouble, but there are just too many things inside! There are 500,000 to 600,000 rifles alone! Over 10,000 boxes of ammunition, and more than 100 cannons. It's impossible to take them away in just over a fortnight."

  "So many!"

  Yang Qiu's eyes widened in shock, he knew that Chu Wangtai was currently the largest arsenal in the country, but he didn't expect there to be so many. Let alone with just a few people like themselves, even if they were to bring the entire Mixed Martial Arts Association up here, it would take them several days to transport away such a large quantity of military supplies.

  Why not just blow it up then? Yang Qiu shook his head and threw away this idea. If the arsenal was really blown up, when the Beiyang army came, they would probably only be able to watch as the three towns fell.

  Xiao Anguo leaned in closer and whispered, "By the way, there's something else I need to tell you. Yesterday, when I was drinking with some colleagues from the army, someone told me that on the night we were ambushed, Jin Zili didn't return home all night."

  "Who is Jin Guiren?"

  "Jin Guilian, also known as Jin Mingsheng, used to be a hoodlum from the Hankou Yangtze River gang. For some reason, he later joined the New Army and is now the number one troublemaker in Baizhang. Oh, and I've also heard that he has a close relationship with someone named Zhang Zhenwu."

  Zhang Zhenwu!

  Yang Qiu almost shouted out, Sun Wu, Zhang Zhenwu, Jiang Yiwu, the three Wus who started the uprising were famous figures, and he didn't expect that the assassination attempt on him would come from their hands!

  "Damn it, these guys are ruthless!" Xiao Anguo slapped the railing in anger.

  "Big brother...... it's all my fault." Yang Qiu found out that San Wu was going to kill him, and he knew things were serious. After all, San Wu held an extraordinary position in the eyes of the Hubei Democratic Party, if they wanted to kill him, then they would definitely go all out.

  "Shut up, if it weren't for your brother, I would have lost my life in Guang'an." Xiao Anguo seemed to not want to mention this matter again, seeing that the boat had returned to Wuchang Wharf, asked: "By the way, where are you going?"

  "Meet an old friend by chance."

  Xiao Anguo was stunned for a moment, and Yang Qiu had already pulled him off the boat. After a few turns, they arrived in front of a delicate two-story courtyard.

  "Hey, is that you?"

  Xiao Anguo only realized why Yang Qiu said it was an old friend after entering the door. It turned out that he had come to find Shen Shukai, whom he had met that night. He also had a lot of questions to ask this man who suddenly appeared. However, upon entering the house, he found that the servants were packing up their luggage.

  "Mr. Shen, where are you going?"

  "It's good that we finally met." Shen Shukai, who had also been eager to see the two of them, hastily grabbed their hands and said: "Don't hide it from you both, our Sichuan branch was robbed by a group of thugs yesterday, so I must rush over to check on the situation immediately."

  "Big Brother Shen, if I were you, I wouldn't go to Chengdu." Yang Qiu stretched out his hand and gave Dong Laozhu a signal with his eyes, understanding that the three of them must have something to discuss. The clever Dong Laozhu immediately dispersed the servants and walked over to stand beside Shen Shuyan, waiting to listen.

  Xin Jiu Sichuan's Shen Shu Kai didn't notice that Yang Qiu Lian had changed her title, and hastily asked: "Yang official, what do you mean by this?"

  Yang Qiu smiled slightly, put her purse on the table, looked at the neatly packed luggage and said: "I think Shenda went to Chengdu just to check the loss situation and find a way to reopen the branch, right?"

  "Is this wrong?"

  "That's right, but have you thought about it, Brother Shen? Now it's just a small Chengdu, if Wuhan, Shanghai and Guangzhou all break out in chaos, how will you split yourself up to deal with them?" Yang Qiu's words made the face of Dong Zhanggui, the manager of the Chengdu branch, change suddenly, and even Shen Shuying stood up abruptly, asking: "Brother Yang, what do you mean...?"

  "The tree wants to be still, but the wind will not stop!" Yang Qiu got up and walked to the window, looking at the busy river outside, took a deep breath: "Shen Ge, you and I met by chance, it's probably too early to talk about trust, but don't you think we have a lot of fate?"

  "That day, I met Dong Zhanggui in Chengdu, but also encountered danger there. It was because of that danger that you apologized to me, and yet you saved me and Miao Niang, a drink and a bite, it must be fate!" Yang Qiu looked at Dong Zhanggui and smiled: "Today, since you called me brother, whether you believe it or not, I still want..."

  "Let me advise you on one thing. Immediately! Right away! Organize all the accounts, return all the circulating funds to the treasury at once, and if possible, exchange them all for US dollars!"

  Even the stupidest person would understand after hearing these few sentences.

  To be a top businessman in this era, who doesn't know how to observe and listen, let alone someone like Shen Shuyan. Previously in Shanghai, he already felt that the voices of rebellion against the Qing dynasty were everywhere, even the most stable north had rumors of unrest, and after arriving in Wuchang, it was all about the cries of killing the Tartars on August 15th, plus the Sichuan Railway Protection Movement had already escalated into armed conflict, and it's said that the fighting within Sichuan is already intense, the Qing dynasty's rule is actually already precarious.

  It's not easy to let him close the stall at this moment, and it's not just that he is only a manager, there are also bosses and major shareholders above him. Just immediately sorting out the branch would be a significant loss.

  Yang Qiu saw through Shen Shu Kui's thoughts and smiled slightly: "Shen Ge, I know you have concerns too. After all, this matter sounds frightening. However, if you believe me, it won't hurt to take 2 months first. If I'm wrong after 2 months, the loss shouldn't be too great, right?"

  "Only two months?"

  From the Chengdu Bloodshed to the Wuchang Uprising, it was only about a month, so Yang Qiu said affirmatively: "That's right, just 2 months! Within these 2 months, your business will operate as usual, you just need to pay attention to the safety of your funds."

  Yang Qiu has been biting for two months, and Shen Shukai is also moved. The nearby Xiao Anguo frowned even more tightly, because Yang Qiu had said before that these two months are crucial.

  Mr. Dong, who was listening on the side, nodded and said: "Manager Shen, I think whether Director Yang is right or not, we should tighten up our finances. Just like this time in Chengdu branch, we were looted by mobs for over 200,000 yuan, so it's better to take some preventive measures ahead of time."

  With Dong's words, Shen Shu-kai also had a plan in mind. He stood up and bowed his hands: "Brother Yang, thank you for your reminder. Tomorrow, I will instruct the local branches to be cautious. If something big happens within two months as you said, then Shen will definitely express his gratitude!"

  When Shen Shu Kai finally convinced himself, Yang exhaled and picked up his leather bag, patted it and laughed: "Brother Shen is being polite, you forgot, I still want to do business with you." After that, he took out a thick stack of white paper with grids from his bag and handed it to the other party, saying: "This is the big business I told you about."

  Shen Shukai didn't understand what the drawings were, but he could vaguely see that they were some kind of machine, and some even looked like cannons. He was momentarily puzzled and asked: "Yang brothers, what are these?"

  Yang Qiuxian didn't answer and instead asked: "I'd like to ask, is Shenda and the German familiar with each other?"

  "I happen to know a few friends from German banks, and I also have some connections with German officers in Shandong."

  "That's enough." Yang Qiu said with a slap on his thigh.

  Xiao Anguo couldn't bear it and hastily pulled him, asking: "Brother, just say it straight, don't keep making riddles with me and Sheng brother."

  Yang Qiu immediately turned to the diagram of the large cannon and said, "This is a door-kicking brick for Brother Shen. This is the latest battleship's main gun from France. Although it may not be comparable to Germany's, France and Germany are sworn enemies. I think the Germans will believe you seven or eight tenths when they see this."

  After finishing, he took out a few more drawings and continued: "This is the real deal. Although I don't know how much money the Germans will pay, if these things are worth less than $500,000, big brother will burn them."

  "$50? 10 million taels of silver!" Xiao Anguo's eyes turned green upon hearing that the few tattered papers he was looking at were worth so much money, and he hastily asked: "Brother, quickly tell me, what is this thing?"

  "Now that it's said, it can only harm you." Yang Qiu's face turned serious as he looked at Shen Shu Kui and said: "Shen Ge, this is a big business opportunity, but it's also a death warrant. If you want to make this deal happen, you must find someone reliable to take care of it. I have a German document here, first let the Germans see the document, then look at the drawings, and remember, the drawings must be stored separately, only one half can be seen before the transaction is completed!"

  It's no wonder Yang is being cautious. Although he's certain that Germany will be tempted by this thing and willing to pay a high price, the current China is more like a world of foreigners than a world of Chinese people. To get something from the hands of robbers who are used to snatching things, one has to be extremely careful.

  As soon as these words came out, even if Shen Shukai didn't understand, he knew that these drawings were important, so he hurriedly asked: "Since Brother Yang believes in me, I'll do this deal once, but... will the Germans really want this thing?"

  "It's a must! And only they need it urgently. If you can meet the German naval commander stationed in Qingdao, he will be even more interested. Just keep an eye out when negotiating with Shenda, if something goes wrong, you can tell them directly. If you have any trouble, those drawings will immediately appear in the hands of the British and French! Of course... this is the last resort to save your life, don't mention it at the beginning."

  After Yang Qiu finished, facing the three people's astonished and surprised eyes, he finally smiled and said: "Tell the German guy that apart from money, I also want 30 Markov machine guns, 100 Madsen M50 machine guns, and 1 million rounds of European pointed bullets. Must be delivered within 20 days, as for other things, Shenda Ge you handle it yourself, anyway I only want military supplies, don't want anything else!"

  Upon hearing this last sentence, Shen Shukai and Dong Zhanggui suddenly stood up, their scalps numb with fear: "Yang brothers... you... are you a revolutionary party?!"