Chapter 16 Long-term Cooperation

  Ma was furious, his face red with rage.

  As a conscientious and reputable businessman, he had already taken into account the long-term cooperative relationship between the two parties, so he lowered the price. After selling one thousand breech-loading rifles, the profit was only more than 2,000 taels of silver. However, Li Zhen still thought it was not enough, which made Ma Si think that it was not suitable to cooperate with Li Zhen in the long term.

  The officials of the Qing dynasty are all so greedy!

  Ma's mind was filled with all sorts of thoughts, but he tried his best to suppress the rising anger.

  Li Zhenxiang said: "You misunderstood me, I said the price is not suitable, not that I want to lower the price."

  "What does Lord Li mean?"

  Ma heard this and his restless mood immediately calmed down.

  Li Zhen said: "Mr. Maas has come from afar, I cannot take advantage of you. Moreover, you still have to return home and settle accounts, so I cannot let you earn too little, otherwise you will not be able to hold your head up when you return home. Let's take a middle number, twenty-five taels of silver for one gun, 25,000 taels for 1,000 guns. What do you think, Mr. Maas?"

  "My God, it's great, it's great!"

  Ma's eyes sparkled with delight, but his cheeks flushed slightly, thinking he had insulted Li Zhen.

  At this moment, Ma Si had already acknowledged Li Zhen.

  Ma thought for a moment and said: "Dear Li, the thousand guns I brought from Italy are all in Guangzhou. When will you accompany me to Guangzhou to pick up the guns?"

  Li Zhen shook his head and said: "Mas brothers, I can't go for the time being."

  "Why?"

  Ma Si immediately became anxious and worried.

  Li Zhen explained: "I just said that I am a deputy general of the Jiangbei Garrison, and as a military leader, I cannot easily leave the garrison. This time, I was ordered to go to Nanjing to negotiate with the rulers of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom."

  "My God!"

  Ma's exclaimed, "You're actually going to Nanjing to see that group of devils, too impulsive."

  Li Zhenxiang said: "Masu brothers, nothing will happen."

  Ma was once insulted by Hong Xiuquan and still had lingering fears, so he said worriedly: "Brother Li, the people of Nanjing are all devils, they're all madmen. I have God's protection, but I've been insulted too. If you go to Nanjing, you'll definitely die a terrible death. From what I know, you and the people of Nanjing are enemies, so it will be even more miserable if you go."

  Li Zhen shook his head and said: "Mas, I went there will be nothing. Now let's discuss the issue of rifles, we have a thousand guns, what about bullets? How many rounds of ammunition do we have?"

  Ma couldn't convince Li Zhen and sighed repeatedly in his heart.

  All he can do now is pray to God to bless Li Zhen and his big customer.

  After a pause, Ma replied: "In addition to one thousand muzzle-loading rifles, there are also one hundred thousand rounds of ammunition. One thousand muzzle-loading rifles cost twenty-five thousand taels of silver, and one hundred thousand rounds of ammunition cost ten thousand taels of silver, totaling thirty-five thousand taels."

  Li Zhen rubbed his chin thoughtfully and had an idea in mind.

  Li Zhen looked at Ma Si and said, "Brother Ma Si, the problem of money is easy to solve. However, your guns are all in Guangzhou, and I cannot leave, so you can only go south to retrieve the guns and bring all the guns to Jiangbei Dazhan."

  Huang Shi Hai stood beside and listened, already bewildered.

  He couldn't understand what Li Zhen and Ma Si were saying, but he was very suspicious in his heart. Li Zhen used to be a soldier in the army without any strange behavior, how could he suddenly become so foreign?

  Was it born with knowledge?

  Huang Shi Hai shook his head and felt that Li Zhen had become more mysterious.

  Ma said tentatively: "Brother Li, if I go to Guangzhou to escort the guns and bullets northward, I must have a large sum of money for turnover. Now I am penniless, without any money!"

  Li Zhenxiang said: "Don't worry, Ma Si brothers, I will pay you a part of the money first."

  Ma was deeply moved and didn't expect Li Zhen to trust him so much.

  Li Zhen continued: "Ma Si brothers, you temporarily stay in Yanzi Rock for a few days. After I return from Nanjing City, you will take the money to go south and get guns and bullets in Guangzhou, what do you think?"

  "Okay, okay!"

  Ma nodded repeatedly, his face full of smiles.

  Li Zhen looked at Huang Shi Hai and asked: "Shi Hai, how much money do you have on you?"

  Huang Shi Hai said: "There are still over 250 taels of silver."

  Li Zhen said, "Give Ma Si two hundred taels of silver and leave one person to protect him. Let him rest at Yanzi Rock for a few days until we return from Nanjing." After that, Li Zhen looked at Ma Si again and said, "Brother Ma Si, considering you are not familiar with the place, I will leave someone with you, is that okay?"

  Ma took the silver ticket and nodded: "Alright, alright."

  At this time, Ma Si had already regarded Li Zhen as his most reliable and trustworthy friend. Li Zhen's generosity, enthusiasm, and thoughtfulness had all infected Ma Si, who even believed it was a blessing from God.

  The sky gradually darkened, and Li Zhen hurried away without stopping.

  He left a soldier with Ma and set off towards Nanjing with Huang Zhihai.

  Huang Shi Hai followed behind Li Zhen and asked, "Sir, you chatted with the foreigner for a long time, and he was very grateful to you. What did you say?"

  Li Zhen replied: "The foreigner's name is Masu, he's an arms dealer. I bought his arms, so he was very happy."

  Huang Shi Hai frowned and said: "Foreign guns are very expensive, how much money is it?"

  "Altogether 35,000 taels of silver!"

  Huang Shi Hai raised an eyebrow, his mouth twitching slightly as he stuttered: "G-great... sir, our camp doesn't have 35,000 taels of silver. Even if we sell more than a thousand soldiers in the camp, it's still not enough."

  Li Zhen said: "Going to Nanjing is for making money, with money you can buy."

  Huang Shi-hai replied: "You promised to give Qi-shan 100,000 taels of silver. If it's less, can Qi-shan agree?"

  Li Zhen said, "I've already thought of these things. At that time, Qishan will not only agree with me but also be grateful to the point of tears. We're doing all this to gain Qishan's trust and increase our own strength."

  Huang Shi Hai said: "Your Excellency is wise and brilliant, I am ashamed that I am inferior."

  Li Zhen smiled and continued on his way to Nanjing.

  When Li Zhen and his party arrived in Nanjing, the sky had already darkened, and the city gates in all directions of Nanjing were closed. Li Zhen and his party could not enter the city and prepared to find a place to rest in the villages outside the city. What surprised Li Zhen was that the people around Nanjing did not accept them, and no one dared to accommodate Li Zhen and his party.

  Helpless, Li Zhen had no choice but to lead his men in search of a ruined temple or Taoist shrine, looking for a place to settle down.

  Huang Shi Hai was indignant, but Li Zhen could understand. The people around Nanjing city were controlled by the Taiping Army and had to grow their hair long and distinguish themselves from the Qing dynasty. Li Zhen and his group wore Qing dynasty attire, if they were received, they might be caught and beheaded, so no one dared to accept them.

  After nightfall, I finally found an old Taoist temple.

  Li Zhen and his party rested for a night, and set out towards Nanjing City at dawn the next day.

  Nanjing, now renamed Tianjing, became the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

  As the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, the city wall is solid and can be called magnificent.

  Li Zhen arrived at the city of Nanjing and stood outside the gate, gazing out at the majestic ancient capital. He felt infinite emotions in his heart. Such a strong and secure city was easily breached, the Qing general defending the city was truly an idiot. Huang Shi Hai followed closely behind Li Zhen with his guards, his mind focused entirely on Li Zhen, fully attentive and not daring to relax for even a moment.

  "Something's not quite right here."

  Suddenly, Huang Shi Hai furrowed his brow, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes.

  "What's wrong?" Li Zhenxiang asked.

  Huang Shi Hai pointed to the soldiers at the city gate and said, "Sir, please look. The city gate is heavily guarded, and the soldiers all have a vigilant appearance as if they are facing a great enemy. The soldiers at the city gate are so tense, but they don't check the common people coming in and out. Moreover, since the Qing army didn't attack Nanjing City, the soldiers shouldn't be like this. I suspect that they might be waiting for us."

  Li Zhen raised his head and saw that the general at the city gate also looked over.

  Eyes met, and just as soon as they touched, they parted ways.

  Li Zhen probed a bit and understood the situation, saying: "Shi Hai, no matter if it's a dragon's lair or a tiger's den in front of us, or a mountain of knives and a sea of fire, there's nothing to be afraid of. Yang Xiuqing doesn't dare kill me, at most he'll just give me a warning shot. Let's go take a look at what kind of good show Yang Xiuqing has prepared for us."

  As soon as he finished speaking, Li Zhen took Huang Shi Hai and headed towards the city gate.

  P.S: Second update, four updates today, and there are two more coming up!