Chapter 22: Selling Equipment (Part 2)

  Outside

  Ts'ai O: "Ch'en brother, what's this about submarines and are those two sets of plans to be sold to the Germans?"

  Chen Shao: "Hehe, Brother Songpo. Indeed, the submarines and tanks are to be sold to the Germans. It's a lucrative business, why not do it?"

  Jiang Baili: "What is this thing called a tank?"

  "Tanks are a kind of army equipment, you'll know when you get to Qinghe Village, now we also have equipment in Qinghe Village. Although it's just a light tank, but domestically it can crush all infantry, as for submarines, we have better ones, why not sell them?"

  Chen Shao smiled faintly at Cai Qu and Jiang Baili, stopping the two who were about to speak again. "When you both truly want to stay and help me, all of this will be made public to you. Originally, I was going to wait until you two arrived at Qinghe Village to tell you, but since you've already found out about my situation, I'll be straightforward with you. However, if the two of you are really unable to come and assist me, can you promise to keep what's recently happened bottled up inside?"

  Cai Yun and Jiang Baili were aware of this friendship across ages, but they still felt a bit surprised that it was being said so directly now. However, fortunately, the two of them weren't ordinary people either, and they quickly came to their senses, deciding to see how things would be said first, and then both nodded in agreement.

  "No problem, we will keep it confidential for you."

  Chen Shao handed over a check worth $1 million to Cai Yun and said: "To be honest with Brother Songpo and Brother Baili, the brothers under my command are all trained by me in a disorderly manner, relying on a large number of Western military textbooks. Although China has many talents, its military education system is behind that of the West. Unfortunately, it lacks a true military leader to take charge, so I want to invite you two to be the vice principals of my military school. All the funds for building the school will be provided by me, and this $1 million is the initial funding."

  Actually, what Chen Shao said now is a bit reckless, because after all, he is only a team leader, and the gap between his identity and theirs is too big. If it weren't for the shock that Chen Shao gave them in the past two days, the two might have left long ago.

  "Are you funding a military school?" Tsai Ao was shocked and shouted in surprise, never expecting him to have such grand ambitions as to establish his own military school.

  Jiang Baili was also stunned by this sentence. He had been the principal of Baoding Military Academy and knew that establishing a military academy would cost an enormous amount that ordinary people could hardly imagine, not to mention countless textbooks. Seeing Chen Shao's sincere face and the $100,000 check, it didn't seem fake either.

  "Yes, and I also sincerely ask you to come and help me, now the external enemy is watching us, we must make early preparations."

  Actually, Cai Yun and Jiang Baili were not unmoved, they also wanted to cultivate military talent for a unified China. Seeing Chen Shao's spirited and vigorous appearance in front of them made them feel very familiar, as if many years ago, they themselves were also like this. Fortunately, through the various events of the past two days, his character has become even more upright, at least his patriotic stance is very firm, and he can still produce submarine blueprints, and come up with medicines like penicillin that are so miraculous, and that unknown medicine, and the attitude of those foreigners towards him, and this person also saved Cai Yun's life, which made the two of them look at him with even more admiration. However, after all, this matter is not a small one, and it also conflicts with the current goals of the two men, so they need to investigate further.

  Seeing the two wanting to say something else, Chen Shao said: "Thank you both for treating me with brotherly kindness, I know that I am now just a small team leader living in a remote corner, and I don't have the qualifications to ask you two to help me do things. However, you should have heard of a saying: 'Having ambition is not about being old, having no ambition is wasting a hundred years.' Although everything is just starting out for me now, but believe me, I will definitely not let you two down. Maybe I'm too impatient, but if you two can come to Qinghe Village and take a look, I'll definitely make you want to stay willingly. You can put this money away first, and after seeing Qinghe Village, you can decide whether to keep it or not."

  Cai Gui and Jiang Baili looked at each other, then nodded, and Cai Gui also picked up the money. Seeing their movements, Chen Shao smiled confidently: If they go to Qinghe Village, I estimate that the two of them will not be able to catch up even if they hurry.

  At this time, two Germans in the room came out and called them in

  As soon as they entered the house, Tang Ao couldn't help but ask: "Mr. Chen, are these drawings real?"

  "Haha, of course it's true. The tank blueprint is complete, while the submarine blueprint only has half of it. You can take it back to your country and have your domestic experts take a look first. Once you're satisfied, then pay for it. As for the submarines, if your country orders 20 at once, I can deliver the complete blueprints and all the submarines within six months. And there are many other things here that might interest you." Chen Shao said, directly pulling out a piece of paper from his pocket. On it was a list of items ranging from small things like bullets and lighters to big things like trucks and artillery, everything was included.

  Two people looked at the list, which was written in German, so both of them could understand it. After finishing reading, they directly spoke to each other in German. For several people inside the house who didn't speak German, it was like listening to thunder. Fortunately, not long after that, Tang Ao said in Chinese: "Mr. Chen, we need to send a telegram back home immediately. We will definitely give you an answer tonight, but I think we will have a very pleasant cooperation."

  "Ah, we're waiting for your good news."

  After seeing off the Germans, Chen Shao met with the British, but the British did not show much interest, at least for now, however they also placed a small order for canned goods and military uniforms.

  Tsai Wen-chi and Chiang Pai-li did not know what was written on the list. But it didn't stop them from seeing that the things on top were absolutely not simple from the faces of those few foreigners.

  The First World War had been going on for a year, and all the belligerents were bogged down in a stalemate. Although Italy had switched sides just a few days ago, Germany still held the upper hand. The military equipment reserves of both the Allies and the Central Powers were being depleted as the war dragged on, with production unable to keep up with consumption. The Allies were slightly better off, thanks to the industrial might of the United States in their rear, but the Central Powers had no external aid and were at a significant disadvantage. However, Chen Shao's list temporarily alleviated the equipment shortage of the Central Powers, barely keeping pace with depletion.

  Moreover, Germany and Britain had just ended the Battle of Jutland, and Germany was powerless to break through the Allied naval blockade. They could only use submarine warfare to attack Allied ships, which is also why they wanted to sell submarines to Germany. This type of submarine was much more advanced than Germany's current U-9 class submarines, so Chen Shao wasn't afraid that Germany wouldn't want them. Furthermore, over the past year, Chen Shao had established a very secure secret channel in Europe, sufficient to transport the goods he sold directly to mainland Germany.

  At night, Tang Ao directly handed Zhang Chang's order to Chen Shao.

  "His Majesty William was shocked to see the order given by Mr. Chen and wondered when China had such a strong industrial foundation. However, after the shock, His Majesty also showed sufficient sincerity to your side, and this list is the sincerity of our monarch. How do you want to sell the tank drawings? And when can you deliver them?"

  "Alright, let me go through the list again: 400 million marks for the tank blueprints, and we'll also throw in 10 tanks for research purposes. The price is non-negotiable. All goods except submarines can be delivered at any time as long as payment is made, and submarines will definitely be available within six months with a one-time payment. We have a way to transport the goods to the European mainland, but this also requires an additional fee, which I hope you can understand. And for future transactions, I hope we can settle in gold."

  Tang Ao was still considering how to transport the goods back to his country, but when he heard that Chen Shao had a way, he suddenly felt a surge of joy. It didn't matter if it cost more money or even gold. Tang Ao also didn't say anything about the price of the tanks. Both parties got what they wanted, and it was a mutually beneficial deal.