Chapter 23 Italian Mountain Gun

  "Really? How much? What's the price?" Zhang Lieyang asked curiously.

  "Not many, twenty pieces. If you really want them, I'll sell you twenty Italian 75mm mountain guns and two thousand rounds of ammunition for five million dollars, what do you say?" Smith said after some thought.

  "Alright! I don't have that many dollars, I'll pay you 35 million US dollars and 1 million British pounds, how about it? If it's okay with you, we can make the deal tonight, one hand gives the money, the other hand gives the goods!" Zhang Lieyang said seriously.

  "Alright! Let's just say it's settled then!" Smith said with a sigh of relief.

  "Then I'll go get the money and call someone! I'll come find you at 5 o'clock, and you can take me to pick up the goods!" Zhang Lieyang said seriously.

  "Alright! See you at five!" With that, Smith sent Zhang Lieyang out of the villa.

  Leaving Smith's villa, Zhang Lieyang drove to the Xiao family. As soon as he entered the Xiao house, Zhang Lieyang immediately asked Xiao Haixuan: "Is Uncle Xiao at home?"

  "Let's go home!" Seeing Zhang Lieyang's serious expression, Xiao Haoyue hastily brought Zhang Lieyang to Xiao Shixiong's study. As soon as they entered the study, Zhang Lieyang immediately asked Xiao Shixiong: "Uncle Xiao, can you now arrange for 20 trucks and a battalion of troops to come over?"

  "What's going on with Lie Yang?" Xiao Shi Xiong asked puzzledly upon hearing Zhang Lie Yang's ambiguous words.

  "Uncle, I'll give you twenty Italian 75mm mountain guns and two thousand rounds of ammunition. Do you want them? If so, I'll go home now to get the money, and then you can arrange for a car and people to come with me to pick them up!" Zhang Lieyang said seriously.

  "Alright! You go back first, I'll immediately call Haiyan to arrange for people and vehicles!" Xiao Shixiong said seriously. As Zhang Liyang was about to leave, he reminded Xiao Shixiong: "Must be someone trusted!"

  About an hour later, Zhang Lieyang drove back to the Xiao family. As soon as he got out of the car, he saw Xiao Haixuan walking over and saying: "Everything is ready!"

  "Let's go!" Zhang Lieyang said, and then called Xiao Haixuan onto the car!

  Zhang Lieyang drove with the people to Smith's villa, and after Smith counted the money, he took Zhang Lieyang and Xiao Haixuan to a secret warehouse near the Seven Towers Temple. He led them into the warehouse, pointing at the cannons and the boxes of cannonballs beside them, saying: "These were ordered by the Japanese, but now they are in breach of contract, and the person who traded with us is also dead. So we're eager to get rid of this batch quickly. But don't worry, I've already asked for instructions from above. They allow me to find another buyer for this batch of goods, as long as it doesn't violate the international treaty on the sale of heavy weapons to China."

  "So you'll find me!" Zhang Lieyang said with a smile to Smith.

  "Yes! Because you studied in America and you are a Southeast Asian!" Smith replied.

  "May I check the cannons and cannonballs now?" Zhang Lieyang asked with a smile.

  "Of course! Please do!" Smith said with a gentlemanly gesture.

  Upon hearing Smith's words, Zhang Lieyang first inspected the mountain cannon and then casually opened a box, took out a shell, removed the warhead and looked at it before saying to Xiao Haixuan: "Have someone disassemble the cannon and load the shells separately!"

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, Xiao Haixia directed his subordinates to quickly unload the cannons and transport the cannonballs onto the vehicles. After about half an hour, after the cannons and cannonballs were loaded, Zhang Lieyang handed a box of money to Smith, saying: "I'll come find you tomorrow morning to sign the contract!"

  "Alright, I'll be waiting for you at the villa tomorrow morning!" Smith said as he walked out of the warehouse with Zhang Lieyang and Xiao Haixuan.

  Zhang Lieyang drove back home and was about to sleep when he heard: "Brother, are you asleep?"

  "No, I'll get it for you!" Zhang Lieyang said as he got up to open the door for Zhang Zihuan.

  As soon as the door opened, Zhang Lieyang saw Zhang Zihuan's red and swollen eyes, and asked worriedly: "Zihuan, what's wrong with you? Who bullied you?"

  "No, it's just that Father told me last night, you killed the Wu family for me! I'm afraid something will happen to you!" Zhang Zihuan said with a hint of tears.

  "Don't worry! I'm fine, you go back and rest early! We still have to go play in Shanghai tomorrow!" Zhang Lieyang coaxed Zhang Zihuan into leaving.

  The next day, Zhang Lieyang and Zhang Zihuan arrived at Tang Wanyue's home early in the morning. As soon as they got out of the car, they saw Xiao Yajie and Tang Wanyue already standing at the door. Zhang Lieyang smiled and asked them, "Have you been waiting for a long time?"

  "It's not far, you can go quickly! My dad is waiting for you inside!" Tang Wan Yue said with a smile.

  Upon hearing Tang Wan Yue's words, Zhang Lie Yang smiled and said: "Then I'll go in first! You guys wait for me in the car!" As he spoke, Zhang Lie Yang walked in with a smile.

  At night, Zhang Lieyang drove with Zhang Zihuan and Tang Wanyue, Xiao Yajie back to Ningbo. After returning to Ningbo, Zhang Lieyang sent them back to their respective homes one by one. Then, Zhang Lieyang drove with Zhang Zihuan back to the Zhang's house. After returning home, Zhang Lieyang put $1.5 million in a box in his room and then drove to Smith's villa.

  In Smith's villa, Zhang Lieyang smiled and handed over the money to Smith, saying: "Friend, let's sign a contract!"

  Smith took the box from Zhang Lieyang's hand and handed over the contract. Zhang Lieyang glanced at the contract, pulled out a pen from his pocket, signed it, and said to Smith: "The contract is fine, I've already signed it, now all we need is you!"

  "Alright, Zhang!" Smith said as he took over the contract and signed his name too.

  "Hey, Smith, thanks for the Italian mountain gun and ammo! If you get any more good stuff in the future, don't forget about me!" With that, Zhang Lieyang took off.

  The next morning, Zhang Lieyang followed his uncle Zhang Qihua to the warehouse in Lishan. There were already over 40 people waiting there. After getting out of the car, Zhang Qihua said to Zhang Lieyang: "These 45 people are orphans raised by our Zhang family since childhood. Now with your grandfather's consent, I'm handing them over to you!" Then Zhang Qihua turned to the 45 people and said: "This is our young master Zhang Lieyang of the Zhang family. From now on, you will follow him and protect him. Can you do that?"

  One of the burly men stepped forward and said, "Our lives were given by the Zhang family! If it weren't for the Zhang family, we would have died long ago! We are now able to follow Young Master, this is our good fortune! Second Master, rest assured, as long as we are here, we guarantee that Young Master will not be hurt a single hair!"

  "Alright! Since you've guaranteed it, I can rest assured!" Then Zhang Qihua said to Zhang Lieyang: "I have something to attend to first, the weapons and ammunition are all in the basement of the warehouse. Here's the key to the basement!" As he spoke, Zhang Qihua handed over the key to Zhang Lieyang, turned around and got into his car and left.

  After Zhang Qi Hua left, Zhang Lie Yang smiled and said to them: "From now on I will train you, let you become a group of special people!"

  Upon hearing Zhang Lieyang's words, he suddenly sobered up! At this time, the person who had just answered Zhang Qihua's question walked out and asked: "Young master, did we hear that wrong? You want to train us?"

  "Yes, you didn't hear wrong!" Zhang Lieyang replied affirmatively.

  Seeing Zhang Lieyang's determined gaze, that person looked at others and said: "Young master, since we followed you, we will follow your arrangements!"

  "I know you're not convinced, because you're the best of Zhang's family guards! But I'm not insulting you, your skills are nothing in my eyes!" Zhang Lieyang looked at their reaction and continued: "So, I'll give you a chance now. Choose five people to fight me! If you win, I'll immediately give each of you 200 taels of silver and return your freedom; on the other hand, if you lose to me, from now on, your lives belong only to me, Zhang Lieyang!"