Chapter Twenty-Five: Introducing Remington Company

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  On the last day of December, the 115th Division's 75th Brigade, led by Xu Shao-wen, welcomed its second batch of new recruits for training. The second batch had recruited a total of 2,600 people, more than 900 more than the first batch, which made Xu Shao-wen very happy. Calculating at this rate, the third batch would be enough to complete the organization of an entire brigade.

  After meeting with Brown, Xu Shao-wen told Li Wanqi, Yu Kuang-chung and Huang Jin-rong about his plan to invest in Citibank. The three shareholders thought it was a feasible strategy after hearing Xu's idea of using Citibank for overseas business. Anyway, the National Bank had more than 200 million yuan in liquid funds, and up until now, the total amount borrowed by domestic enterprises and government agencies in China did not exceed 30 million yuan.

  Idle funds are also idle, and using them to carry out overseas business is a matter of making money with money. Why not?

  Xu Shao-wen entrusted this matter to Li Wanqi and Yu Kuiqing, letting the two old rivers communicate with Brown, the manager of the American Flag Bank. As for the conditions promised to Brown, he also told Li Wanqi and Yu Kuiqing that as long as they could successfully invest, these conditions would be fulfilled to Brown.

  Apart from this, Xu Shaoxun also consulted with Li Wanqi and ordered 500 armored vehicles and 500 three-wheeled motorcycles from foreign automobile companies in the name of the National Bank. He planned to establish a motorized combat brigade in his own travel department to improve the army's mobile combat capability.

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  Xu Shao-wen had just finished negotiating with Zheng Ru-cheng about the new military uniforms, and as soon as he came out of the Shanghai Garrison Command, his guard immediately came up to him and said that Mr. Brown from the Standard Chartered Bank was leading a few foreigners waiting to meet him at the Military Governor's Office.

  He immediately understood that the three shareholders of Remington must have arrived in Shanghai and were now being brought over by Brown to meet him.

  Xu Shao Wen smiled slightly and did not hesitate much, immediately got into his own sedan chair and returned to the Du Jun Shi.

  In the living room of the General's mansion, Xu Shaowen welcomed the only surviving shareholders of the Remington Company who had come from afar. However, when they met, he found that there were not just three people, but seven. After introducing them, Brown tactfully excused himself, after all, this was a matter between the shareholders of the Remington Company and an outsider like him had no right to intervene.

  "Gentlemen, it's a long way to come, please sit down." Xu Shaowen politely greeted the seven dusty foreigners in English and sat them down on the sofa. Then he ordered someone to prepare tea and snacks. He could see that these shareholders all had a worried look on their faces, clearly unhappy about a Chinese person controlling the fate of their company.

  After everyone had sat down, a man in his fifties with a round belly introduced everyone to Xu Shaowen. He looked somewhat comical when he spoke. "Mr. Xu, I am Burjard Wood, shareholder and CEO of the Reimington Company," he said. "The gentleman next to me is shareholder Nixon Jackson, and the other one is shareholder Moses Williamson. Sitting across from you are our company's general manager, Pearson, and deputy general manager, Mike."

  Xu Shaowen made himself look elegant, nodding to the big shots of these companies. He glanced at an old man in his sixties sitting in the corner and a middle-aged man in his forties who was dressed neatly, then asked President Wood, "Mr. Wood, you seem to have not introduced these two gentlemen yet."

  Mr. Wood's expression wasn't very good, he slowly let out a breath, gave the old man a disgusting glare, and then said: "This is Mr. John Moses Browning, the president of Browning Company."

  Xu Shaowen's whole body shook slightly, and it turned out that this seemingly thin old man was actually the world's top weapon designer, John Browning? This is really a shocking thing, Browning actually ran from America to Shanghai to see himself?

  Mr. Wood looked at another man in his forties and said, "This is John Galland, the chief design consultant of Springfield Armory."

  Xu Shao Wen had just picked up his teacup and was about to take a sip to calm himself, when he heard Wood introduce John Garand, and suddenly spat out the water that had reached his mouth, almost spraying it onto Browning's body.

  John C. Garand, famous American designer of World War II standard equipment M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle?

  A Browning and a Garland, what brings them to Shanghai to see me?

  "Oh my god, Mr. Xu, are you okay?" Wood was somewhat surprised at Xu Shaowen's sudden behavior, but he wasn't worried that Xu had spat on Browning, rather he was worried that his major shareholder might have gotten into trouble.

  Xu Shao Wen quickly composed himself, wiped his mouth and regained his elegant demeanor. He smiled at Wood and said: "It's nothing, the tea was a bit hot just now, it made me lose my composure, I'm really sorry."

  Xu Shao Wen's extremely polite behavior changed the attitude of all the foreigners present. In this era when Chinese civilization was half-open, Westerners generally believed that Chinese people were barbarians. However, after witnessing it with their own eyes, they also felt that the term "barbarian" was a bit too much.

  Mr. Wu adjusted his sitting posture and said in a gentle tone: "As long as you're fine, Mr. Xu."

  He paused for a moment, then got to the point: "This time we came to disturb Mr. Xu, actually also to beg Mr. Xu not to sell his shares. Although our company's stock price has been falling recently, we have already taken on many orders from Britain, Russia and France, and our business is absolutely on the rise."

  "I've already told Mr. Brown about this issue, didn't he inform you?" Xu Shaowen couldn't help but smile, thinking it was embarrassing that all the shareholders and executives of Lumington Company had traveled from the US for such a small matter. "I have no intention of selling my shares for now, so you can rest assured. Moreover, if Lumington Company needs more funds, I still have several hundred million dollars on hand to continue investing in your company."

  Woods and the other shareholders and executives couldn't help but show a look of relief and comfort after hearing Xu Shao's words. Meanwhile, Blanning and Galland, who had been sitting on the side, looked excited.

  "That's great, Mr. Xu, as a military man, you may not be too familiar with the company's business model. Do you have any further opinions on our company's current operations?" Mr. Woods continued. Their main purpose for coming to Shanghai this time was to confirm that Xu Shaowen would not sell his shares, and secondly, they also needed to consult with the major shareholders about their opinions on the company's current situation. After all, major shareholders have the right to question any aspect of the company.

  Xu Shaowen knew that Wu De did not want to rely on his identity as a major shareholder, pointing fingers and making arbitrary decisions within the company. He smiled slightly and said: "Since Xu is a military man, I won't ask much about business matters, relying on you all to manage and operate well."

  Wu De and the shareholder managers finally felt completely at ease after hearing this.

  However, at this time, Xu Shao Wen added a point and said: "Actually, I only have a small request, which is to hope that the Remington company will set up a factory in China. Whether it's labor or raw materials, the costs here in China are much lower than in the United States. As long as we can greatly reduce the company's internal expenses. What do you all think?"

  Wood and several shareholders and managers whispered to each other for a moment. He glanced at Browning and Galland, then said to Xu Shaowen: "Mr. Xu, we will definitely consider your proposal carefully, such as the low cost of Chinese raw materials and labor, which also needs to be examined. Moreover, in front of outsiders now, these internal topics are better left for another day."

  Xu Shaowen now understood why Wood was not giving Browning and Garland a good face. One was the president of Browning's military industry, and the other was the design consultant of Springfield Armory, both were competitors in the business world. He smiled and nodded to Wood: "No problem, let's talk another day. However, Mr. Browning and Mr. Garland came with you to visit me this time, is there something they want?"

  Browning straightened up immediately after hearing that Xu Shao-wen was still asking himself. He walked towards Xu with a smile and said in a very polite tone, "We are honored to be received by General Xu. A general as young as you is rare in the world."

  Xu Shaowen felt that Mr. Brolin must have something to ask for his help, he smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Brolin is too polite, just say what you want."

  Browning saw that Xu Shaowen was so polite, so he didn't say much flattering words and directly said: "Since that's the case, let's get straight to the point. Actually, after we heard that Mr. Xu acquired 70% of Remington's shares, we knew that Mr. Xu is a generous rich man. So, I and Mr. Garland came to find you this time, hoping that you can raise some money to support our Browning company, Springfield Armory and Remington company to form a weapons design laboratory."

  "You're the CEO of Browning, can't you even afford to fund a lab yourself?" Wood chimed in with disdain, clearly opposed to the three companies forming a joint laboratory.

  Browning and Garland both looked embarrassed, but neither of them said anything, they just looked at Xu Shaowen with an expectant gaze.

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