Chapter Eleven Importing from America

  Negotiating arms deals with the US isn't that difficult, as they're worried about when they can sell off their massive inventory and when European countries will pay off their debts. Now a big client has come from China, wanting to make a one-time purchase of 6 million firearms, which is a powerful reassurance. However, it's clear that the Chinese client came prepared, insisting that all arms be delivered to Shanghai before mid-September.

  This was a massive undertaking, requiring the use of more than half of all American cargo ships to accomplish, and what made matters worse for the arms dealers was that they didn't even have enough time to think about whether this deal would be profitable. They had almost only three days to decide whether to accept or decline this huge order from America.

  In the end, under the direct benefit of 200 million yuan, the United States agreed and immediately diverted the military supplies that were about to be transported to Britain, sending them to Shanghai first. The British requirement was to receive the goods before October, but there was still plenty of time, and after the seasonal winds in the Atlantic changed, it would only take half a month to make up for the delay. But on the Chinese side, the situation was different - the goods had to arrive by mid-September, and with an order of 60 million units, they naturally had to be given priority.

  After a month, six million worth of munitions had arrived. Meanwhile, the European war had escalated further, with Germany occupying Brussels and Japan declaring war on Germany. The bloody Battle of Sedan was already half over. Losses for both the Allies and Central Powers were rising rapidly in four-digit numbers.

  During this period, China remained low-key and did not disclose any arms sales business to European countries, while European countries continued to place orders for military equipment with the United States.

  Americans are now feeling a bit overwhelmed. In mid-1914, the US stock market was turbulent due to the financial crisis and World War I. Arms dealers also ran out of inventory, and whether or not to accept this order became a dilemma. In the end, profit can blind one's eyes, and arms dealers, in an effort to avoid losses in the turbulent stock market, still accepted all European orders with the mentality that they could always withdraw from the US military's active equipment.

  The more intense the war in Europe, the greater the pressure on this side of the Atlantic, and the more tense and turbulent the stock market becomes. The tension and turbulence of the stock market, in turn, stimulates the restless psychology of arms dealers, leading to an endless expansion of trade orders to make up for domestic losses. It is precisely because of this that America and Europe have fallen into a vicious cycle.

  Of course, Americans could not have foreseen that the stock market turmoil of 1914 was merely a structural adjustment in the market and that within a year the US stock market would reach a major turning point for a bull run.

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  In early September, the European situation took another major turn. The outbreak of the Marne River Battle led to the British and French armies beginning to shift from a defensive to an offensive posture. However, as they prepared for their counterattack, Britain and France urged the United States to expedite arms shipments even more urgently. American munitions manufacturers and bankers began to petition the President collectively, requesting that in order to salvage the credit of European nations with the United States, it was necessary to mobilize military equipment from active-duty units to be shipped to Europe.

  The current President of the United States is Woodrow Wilson, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1919. His political stance has always been dovish, so he was torn about the proposal from arms dealers and bankers.

  At the same time, Yu Jiaqing, Li Wanqi and Zhang Jingjiang began to contact consuls of various European countries, expressing their willingness to sell a batch of brand-new American-style military equipment. The consuls of various European countries were initially not interested in these Chinese arms, but when they heard from their home countries that the US orders had not been shipped for a long time, they felt that they should consider China's arms.

  From September 6 to 8, Yu Kuiyi, Li Wanqi and Zhang Jingjiang respectively met with the consuls of France, Britain, Russia and Germany, discussing in detail the purchase of military supplies and also providing samples for inspection. At a time when European war tensions were high, the governments of various European countries could only denounce the United States for being untrustworthy and began to decide to place orders for existing goods from China.

  Li Wanqi and others were naturally overjoyed, they did not divide the military supplies into small amounts, but only required these countries to settle the payment in one lump sum no matter how much goods they wanted. The governments of various European countries felt very headache about this point, but the war was imminent, and there was no room for delay, so they were willing to pay cash in the end, but due to limited financial resources, these countries only ordered a total of one million guns.

  That night, Li Wanqi, Zhang Jingjiang, Huang Jinrong and Yu Kuizheng as well as Xu Shaowen gathered again at the Weston Club. Although the first batch of goods had been sold out, everyone's face didn't look too good because one million was only 30% of the goods, so what to do with the remaining 70% of the goods? This speculative thing can't be delayed, the longer the time, the greater the risk.

  In the private room of Weston's club, four men who were once the richest in Jiangnan now looked worried and anxious. They had converted all their assets into cash, including years' worth of savings in gold and silver, which they had all invested, and these things had turned into military supplies, still stored in a warehouse in the French concession.

  "Otherwise, let's just allow installment payments and get these arms out of here quickly." Huang Jinrong sighed and said somewhat urgently, now the ones being thrown in are his family's lifelong possessions.

  Everyone was skeptical, they didn't show approval, but neither did they show disapproval.

  "Installment payment is absolutely unacceptable." Xu Shaowen knew this was the critical moment of psychological pressure for everyone, and he made a decisive statement.

  "But now more than 50 million guns are all stored in the warehouse, it's not a good thing either. No one buys and can't afford are two different meanings." Huang Jinrong was somewhat displeased.

  "Lately, I've been trying to contact the Beiyang government and the warlords in the south to see if we can sell some of it." Li Wanqi sighed and said with a hint of helplessness. These days, he's been anxious and worried, looking much older than before. If they couldn't sell off the remaining goods, he'd have no choice but to spend the rest of his life clinging to his rifle.

  "The Beiyang government and the southern warlords? They can at most afford to pay tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands, it's not even worth mentioning." Zhang Jingjiang said with a serious expression.

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