Ye Zuowen picked up the napkin and wiped his mouth, then crumpled it into a ball and placed it lightly on the table. Wang Zhenyu knew that this was a sign that they were going to discuss serious business. He also sensibly finished off the last strand of spaghetti, gently wiped his mouth, and smiled at Mr. Ye Zuowen.

  Ye Zuwen: "Zhang, my younger brother, I have some acquaintances in the concession who do business with these weapons. However, I don't know how many of those firearms you have on hand? If it's convenient, could you also tell me where they came from? After all, this trade is also somewhat risky."

  Wang Zhenyu smiled and stretched out one finger, Ye Zuwen faintly smiled: "100 strips?"

  Wang Zhenyu smiled and shook his head, still with one finger, Ye Zuowen was somewhat surprised: "1000 strips?"

  Wang Zhenyu continued to shake his head, then withdrew his finger and said slowly: "A brand new 10,000 yuan from Hanyang! As for the origin, I, Wang Mou, am a straightforward person who doesn't speak in riddles. Mr. Ye, it's better if you don't ask too much about this. There are many people and things involved in this matter, and the less you know, the better."

  Wang Zhenyu knew that in order to maximize profits, there were a few things he had to pay attention to.

  Never tell your counterpart everything, because cooperation and competition are actually inseparable.

  Never tell lies all the time, no sincerity can't make a deal, nine out of ten sentences should be true.

  Never let people know your bottom card, sometimes the more mysterious the better.

  Hanyang produced 10,000. Upon hearing this number, Ye Zuwen was extremely shocked. Looking at the entire concession, the total amount of ammunition currently available might not even be one-third of this number. Moreover, the Hanyang Arsenal, which is touted as the largest arsenal in the country, does not produce such a large quantity in a year! What a huge deal, is it true? Ye Zuwen's brain began to spin rapidly.

  After humans entered the industrial civilization, the sound of a cannon became an immutable iron law that even revolutions could not escape. This is why national founders did not return to their countries first during revolutionary outbreaks, but instead went around soliciting donations and funds.

  This time, the Wuchang Uprising threw the entire Qing dynasty into chaos. The already limited military-industrial complex was split in two, with the most important Hanyang Arsenal in the south and the Jiangnan Manufacturing Bureau in Shanghai falling directly into the hands of the revolutionary army from the very beginning. As the month began, the Suzhou-Hangzhou-Shanghai coalition forces captured Nanjing, and the Jinling Manufacturing Bureau also fell into the hands of the revolutionary army.

  And what about the military industry in the North? It was firmly controlled by Yuan Shikai and the Beiyang clique. Ammunition suddenly became a scarce resource.

  It is worth mentioning that, like Qingxiang Wang Yiku and others, they are still a minority. The majority of the Manchu royal family was still struggling before the collapse of this dynasty. However, no matter how hard they tried, it had little effect. On the one hand, most of the troops were in the hands of Yuan Shikai, and on the other hand, all the weapons and ammunition were also controlled by Yuan Shikai. Under such circumstances, how could the royal family members who decided to protect the Qing dynasty not be anxious?

  In the military, the princes set their sights on two people. One was Feng Guozhang, who had been crying and calling for his father in Wuhan during the civil war. The other was Zhang Xun, who had fought a bloody battle with the civil army in Nanjing for several months. By this time, the princes had lost all power, so what did they have left? Only the wealth and riches they had plundered from the people when they were in power.

  Feng Guozhang has already been replaced by Yuan Shikai, and now it's hopeless. Zhang Xun, although defeated and lost Nanjing, retreated to the Huai River area, but he still had thousands of men under his command. Several princes of the royal family conspired together to support him. They decided to help expand Zhang Xun's army to counter Yuan Shikai, who was becoming more and more like Ao Bai in their eyes.

  But expanding the army isn't just about having money, you also need guns.

  This has worried the royal masters of the Zongshang Party to death. The Qing dynasty's own military factories were either seized by the revolutionary party or controlled by Yuan Shikai. What's even more detestable is that the consuls of Britain, France and other countries announced they would not intervene in China's civil war while imposing an arms embargo on both warring parties, clearly indicating that if you want to buy weapons, don't look for them.

  The only way is to find all possible ways to buy weapons at a high price.

  Then Shanghai, Wuhan, Tianjin and Qingdao concessions came a group of people who spoke Northern Mandarin, these people were the backbone of the Zongshang Party, the trusted confidants of the Wang princes, estimated to be the kind of born slaves. Their purpose in coming to the concession was only one thing, to get military supplies at all costs. Ye Zuowen also learned from his acquaintances, a friend who worked as a comprador at the Risheng Foreign Firm.

  Foreign firms made a fortune, originally 40 yuan per rifle, Hanyang-made rifles were speculated to 100 yuan. Unfortunately, there is still no market for this. The foreign firms had only so many guns in their hands, although they were all trying to find ways to get more arms, the effect was not very ideal.

  Now, the young man in front of Ye Zuwen actually said that he had 10,000 guns in his hand, and they were all brand new. What does this mean? It's a full 1 million yuan! God, devout Christian Ye Zuwen thanked Jesus with utmost piety, it must be You who heard my prayer and sent this young man to save me.

  Ye Zuwen's eyes began to emit a strange, seven-colored glow as he looked at Wang Zhenyu... Wang Zhenyu didn't know that Ye Zuwen's days were actually very difficult. Since founding the Ye family business five years ago, the entire Ye family had been on the rise.

  Ye Zuowen is a very cautious person who does things in an orderly manner. He is familiar with foreign trade and has capable subordinates, so basically every transaction is smooth sailing. Although he doesn't make much profit, it's rare for him to lose money on any deal. In this way, after five years, Ye Zuowen has become a wealthy man with assets of 600,000 yuan. In the Hankou concession, although he can't be said to be number one, he is also a notable figure.

  At the same time in the concession's Public Works Bureau and the Huguang Governor's Office, Ye Zuwen was a figure who excelled at being all things to all people, mediating between different parties, facilitating transactions, and taking his cut of the profits. As time went on, he also accumulated more connections and favors.

  Two years ago, the imperial court sent Rui Cheng to serve as the governor of Huguang. Ye Zuwen, who was making a living by currying favor with officials and merchants, naturally stuck to him again. After all, collusion between officials and merchants is not cooperation, but rather a characteristic of China's dynasties for thousands of years. As long as one is a businessman and wants to make it big, they cannot avoid following this custom.

  But the result of this post really fulfilled a Chinese proverb: Good fortune and bad luck are intertwined, blessings and misfortunes go hand in hand.

  Thanks to the special care of Rui Cheng, who was in charge of military affairs and grain supplies in Hubei and Hunan provinces, as well as the governor of Huguang (the full title of the Governor of Hubei and Hunan), Ye's business has been thriving in Hubei for several years. The reputation of the Ye family in the concession area has also become more and more prominent.

  Time went back to the beginning of this year, our Governor Rui Cheng had been in office for a long time and his courage was getting bolder. He actually handed over two very important procurement projects to Ye Zuwen's hands, which shocked Ye Zuwen at that time. Specifically, it was about this: The Hanyang Arsenal needed to replace a set of military equipment, involving bullet and smokeless gunpowder manufacturing equipment; At the same time, Pingxiang Coal Mine and Hanyang Iron Factory purchased a set of excavation equipment and a set of steel furnaces, which were all projects of Han-Ye-Ping Coal and Iron Co., Ltd. The company's headquarters was in Shanghai and had always been managed by Sheng Xuanhuai. However, after Sheng Xuanhuai was ordered to supervise the national railway last year, his term was about to expire and he was eager to make a fortune. Rui Cheng still used his connections to get these three big procurement projects into his own hands. But he was after all a new nobleman, and there were not many slaves he could use. When such a large procurement project came into his hands, he naturally thought of Ye Zuwen, who had been a comprador and often helped him with some import and export business.

  The specific operation may not be so complicated, the Han-Ye-Ping Coal and Iron Co., Ltd. in Shanghai knows how to operate it, there is no need for Ye Zuweng to ask about it, that's the governor's business. Ye Zuweng was only responsible for discussing equipment imports with Americans, as Rui Cun also wanted to set up a cigarette factory in Wuchang, so an extra set of cigarette-making equipment was added, and all the problems arose from this cigarette-making equipment.

  Han Ye Peng Coal and Iron Mine Co., Ltd. signed a procurement contract with Rui Cun for as much as 10 million yuan, while Ye Zuwen actually only needed to pay 4 million yuan for the procurement, with a price difference of as much as 6 million yuan, which is probably also a Chinese characteristic.

  Rui Cheng is not too dark, and he also knows what it means to be both benevolent and strict. At that time, he promised to give one million of the 10 million to Ye Zuwen as a reward for his errands. Rui Cheng took the lion's share of 5 million, and he also knew that Ye Zuwen didn't have enough money to pay the down payment, so he directly allocated 3 million yuan from the Huguang Governor's Office and the New Army to be used as a down payment for Ye Zuwen. In this era, unlike later times when market economy and international trade were highly developed, the proportion of down payments in commercial activities was very high, accounting for about 60% to 80% of the total amount.

  The entire deal eventually came down to a contract worth 45 million, with Ye Zuwen paying 35 million, of which 5 million was paid by Ye Zuwen using his own funds.

  The Americans were also trustworthy, and this batch of goods was informed that the four sets of equipment had been shipped from the United States on October 9th, which made Ye Zuowen excited to start his dream of becoming a millionaire.

  It was truly unpredictable, and no one had expected that just overnight, on the second day after receiving the telegram, the shocking Wuchang Uprising broke out. Governor-General Rui Qing fled in the middle of the night, and later it was said that he escaped to Japan to avoid disaster.

  This deal naturally became a headless case, and the biggest characteristic of Americans with German blood is that they like to do things strictly according to the contract. According to the original contract between the two parties, if Ye Zuweng cannot make an effective payment of 10 million by January 1, 1912, then sorry, the ownership of this batch of goods will be taken back by the US side, and the previously paid 35 million will also be lost.

  It's okay to ignore Rui Rui for now, after all, even if the Qing army comes back, this governor who fled in disarray will have lost favor and won't have a future. But there's 5 million yuan in the advance payment that belongs to the Ye family, it's the result of Ye Zuwen's hard work over the past decade, can't just let it go down the drain like that.

  The only feasible way now is to raise 1 million and get the four sets of equipment in hand first, otherwise the decline of the Ye family is imminent.

  Everyone knows the reason, but where is the money? Ye Zuowen almost used all his connections to raise funds everywhere. However, once the war started, various industries were affected, and tightening their purse strings was a necessary choice for major businesses. At this time, Ye Zuowen couldn't even borrow if he wanted to. As for borrowing from usurers, you may not be afraid of high interest rates, but who can lend you 1 million in usury? You should know the prices of this era, 3 silver coins can buy 44 kilograms of flour, and 1 million... how many kilograms of flour would that be?

  Ye Zuowen had been busy for over a month, searching through all his connections, but still hadn't found any clues. By now, he was almost in despair and even had thoughts of giving up this morning, but Wang Zhenyu's unexpected appearance brought him new hope.