Chapter 37 Secret Procurement and Chartering Agreement (4)

  Karl calmed down and thought for a moment before finally nodding his head!

  "Deal!"

  Now that this big business has been settled, both sides immediately put on a happy face. Karl was delighted that he had brought in a huge order for the first time out, which would surely raise his position within the family and even the empire, and also earn him a profit.

  "So then, my dear friend, for our great friendship, cheers!"

  Karl personally poured a glass of red wine for Li Han, and then poured one for himself. He raised the wine glass in his hand and toasted him!

  "Cheers!"

  Li Han held up the red wine in mid-air, made a toast gesture, but deep down he was thanking the instructors of his country for their training back then. After hundreds of years of plundering by Western foreigners, the wealth and prosperity of his own country were indeed impressive. They would often hold all sorts of social gatherings, so etiquette for these occasions was also part of their training.

  "Alright, my friend, let's discuss the delivery time of the arms. After all, this is your country, so to avoid diplomatic conflicts (Li Han pulled the corner of his mouth), in our warehouse in the German concession area in Hankou, we can store equipment for at most one and a half divisions according to your standards. There is also a ship with goods in Shanghai Port, but it can only equip two and a half divisions at most. As for transportation, it will take about a week to arrive here. These can be delivered to you and your army immediately. The remaining equipment, I will telegram the domestic side to send as soon as possible!"

  "How long is it going to take!"

  Li Han furrowed his brow, the time left for him was really limited. With the Wuchang Uprising in October this year triggering a domino effect, various provinces in China responded and declared independence, throwing off the rule of the Qing government. The great chaos at home was about to arrive, if he really wanted to occupy Sichuan, he would not only have to face the million-strong Paoge within the province but also confront the Ma family army of the Northwestern Hui people, and it was inevitable that he would have to deal with the Qing army! If he didn't want to become a useless provincial governor, he would need at least five to ten elite divisions in his hands. Sichuan was an inland place, subject to too many transportation constraints, only two and a half countries had the ability to sell him large quantities of arms, these two countries were - Britain, Russia, Germany barely counted as half.

  So if possible, he must arm at least 10 divisions in the shortest time, otherwise he will miss the opportunity to seize the revolutionary fruits for the first time!

  "The second batch of about 5 divisions' firearms, ammunition and remaining artillery may be slightly delayed. Your required firepower standards are relatively high, after domestic preparations are made and the goods are shipped to the Far East, it will take at least three months!"

  Karl put down his wine glass and replied, "No way, the only railway directly to China is in the hands of the empire's archenemy. Such a large arms deal, the other side will let it pass? Only can take the relatively slower sea transportation."

  Li Han shook his head "No, this speed is too slow. If possible, I hope the first batch can be delivered within five days. For the rest, if you can deliver them within two months, I'll add a reward of 10,000 pounds for every day earlier. What do you think?"

  "This..."

  Karl furrowed his brow in consideration. According to their contract, the transportation costs of the munitions were supposed to be borne by them. The fact that the other party was willing to offer more compensation did indeed tempt him. However, since the cargo ship was equipped with a large quantity of munitions, it was estimated that passing through the Suez Canal would be somewhat troublesome and might delay their journey for some time. Nevertheless... there were ways to resolve this issue. For instance, they could transport the goods by rail, taking the Baghdad Railway line through the Ottoman Empire from the Persian Gulf. Calculating this way, they could at least save half a month's worth of expenses. The prerequisite was that he would have to spend a large sum of money to bribe those greedy Western Asian potentates who had never gotten along with the Empire!

  "No problem... however, I hope you can pay half of the deposit first! I will deliver it as soon as possible!"

  After some thought, Karl finally nodded his head, this way it would be faster to deliver, for the first big business he had made himself, he didn't want to give up so easily!

  "Alright, I'll pay ￡400,000 first and send over the rest of the money tomorrow!"

  The equipment trading amount of 10 heavy firepower masters is almost two hundred and seventy thousand pounds, both of them have to be more careful.

  "By the way, it's a bit chaotic in the city today, do you need me to help you get somewhere?"

  Having finished such a big deal, Karl's mood was clearly good, and he asked.

  Li Han's eyes lit up, "Then I'll trouble you with that. By the way, how many spare cargo ships do you have? The more the better. I want to rent a few for a couple of days..."

  "Huh?"

  Next to Carl, a slight doubt arose in his mind, but he turned around and looked at the servant who had stayed behind with Davis in the room. The man saw that his gaze fell on himself, and immediately understood what he meant. He hurriedly stood up and replied: "Sir, our Princess cargo ship was unable to enter the Yangtze River, so it was left at Shanghai Port. There are also three 6,000-ton cargo ships stranded there. Only 'Mr. Merle', 'Anston', 'Will' and 'Southern Province' came with us to Wuhan. Among these four ships, except for 'Southern Province', which is a 3,250-ton cargo ship, the other three sister ships are all around 2,500 tons. Since most of the goods have been unloaded, they can be vacated at any time... In addition, there are also three small cargo ships with a tonnage of about 1,500 tons in the foreign firm, but whether they can be vacated needs to be asked by the person in charge of the foreign firm.

  Karl nodded, "Thanks, Godon."

  Then he turned around and asked with some curiosity: "Sir, as you heard, we are somewhat idle cargo ships. Generally speaking, we are not a professional shipping company and will not lend our own cargo ships to others for use. However, I am very interested in your revolution, or rather, the revolution of your country, so it is possible to consider lending some to you for use. But can I ask how long do you want to rent...and what's the purpose?"

  "This..." Li Han hesitated for a moment, "Alright, I want to rent it from you for a week, but the earliest must be tonight... As for the reason for renting? It's for transporting troops... Do you feel satisfied with this reason?"

  Karl's heart skipped a beat, could it be...

  But soon he denied his own idea, it's impossible, the problem was just solved yesterday, and the Qing soldiers who were chasing in the city are still running around everywhere, how could it be possible again tonight.... But... it's really possible....

  "No problem, I'd be happy to contribute a share of power to the success of your country's revolution. Of course, in order not to cause trouble, during the process of use, I hope that our company's sailors will be responsible for driving the ship. However, once we encounter some special situations, we can allow you to use our national flag, but the price needs to be paid in advance by half... What do you think?"

  Li Han was delighted in his heart and readily agreed to the conditions, hastily nodding his head and saying "Deal!"

  The rental agreement, which he himself had little confidence in at first, actually succeeded!

  Sorry about that, I used up all the scheduled posts for a week. Just got back from work and uploaded it immediately!