Volume 1: A sound on Wall Street, Xinxiang City is busy copying books Chapter 263 Arms Dealer
Subtitle of this chapter: I'm not here to make money, I'm here to cause trouble.
Our Master Yuan casually flipped through the account book, nodded and put it aside. He did not say anything, but looked at the gangster couple with a half-smile, then picked up the teacup and drank tea by himself.
In fact, he sighed in his heart. These days... well, loyalty is not something you can eat in any era. The real Hongmen is not a fairytale youth movie adapted from Hong Kong comics like "Young and Dangerous" that makes people excited, but a black adult movie like "Black Society" where everyone is actually a person who pursues fame and fortune.
Whether in the underworld or the white world, there are really few morally perfect people who would not take advantage of loopholes. He could only blame himself for having too few people and even fewer talents. It was not easy for him, a busy master, and John McCall, a newly minted lawyer, to establish a modern enterprise with a complete system.
However, he can turn a blind eye and not worry about the tricks involved for the time being. This does not mean that he cannot show some respect to these two.
The couple were also familiar with the situation, so they naturally knew what the second master of Nintendo meant. Although they knew it clearly in their minds, their faces did not reveal a single thing.
Li Jie looked up at the clock and asked attentively, "Brother Hongjian, have you come here to eat at this time?"
Yuan Yan said leisurely: "Brother Ziyixian, I was full just now after reading the account book. But now that you mentioned it, I am really a little hungry. It seems that I have to bother you and your wife for a meal."
In fact, these three people all understood that he was not full of sight but full of anger.
Fourth Sister Jin Feng seemed to have not heard the meaning at all. She smiled without any embarrassment and said, "Look at what you said, Second Master. It's not a bother at all. Normally, I would like to invite you, the God of Wealth, to dinner but I can't. I'll go to the kitchen and give the order. Second Master, please wait a moment."
Soon, a table of hot food and wine was brought in.
"Second Master, and this gentleman. Please enjoy your meal..."
Master Yuan saw that the madam was about to leave, and immediately stopped her, saying, "Fourth sister, please don't leave. I have something to discuss with you two."
The fourth sister of Jinfeng laughed dryly and said, "Second Master, I am just a woman. If you have anything to say, you should talk to my master."
Yuan Yan waved her hand and said, "Fourth sister, don't worry. Don't you know who I am in your family? And you are also a heroine of our Hongmen. You have to listen to this."
The couple looked at each other, and Li Jie said generously: "Since Brother Hongjian has said so, you can accompany him."
"Then I will respectfully obey your command."
As they spoke, Lord Fool, Lord Justice, and the couple sat down to eat. After three rounds of wine and five dishes... well, ten dishes, Yuan Yanshu was a big eater, so he ate twice as much as the average person, and then he put down his chopsticks and started to talk about business.
"Fifth brother, fourth sister. I don't treat you as outsiders, so I want you to tell me the truth!"
Li Jie scratched his head embarrassedly and said, "Second Master, if we want to talk about Baisuishanhe's account..."
“Hahaha…” Master Yuan interrupted him with a laugh, “Fifth brother, we are on Mount Liangshan, where do you get two copies of Water Margin? Your life is not easy either, so I will help you if I can. This matter ends here. What I want to ask is…”
"Are you two really ready to spend your whole life in this foreign country?"
"this……"
Hongqi Laowu was speechless after hearing his question and didn't know how to answer.
The fourth sister of Jinfeng smiled sweetly, stood up and filled a glass of wine for this Hongmen brother, and said, "I wonder if the second master has any advice for me?"
Yuan Yan glanced at the two of them, picked up the wine glass and took a sip, then said seriously: "Fifth brother and fourth sister, to be honest, I have a big business right now, but I don't know if you are willing to work with me... um, let's do it together."
The couple asked in unison, "What big business?"
"arms!"
"arms?!"
The couple looked at each other, and finally burst out laughing.
"Brother, are you kidding your elder brother? Even our boss doesn't have the ability to do such a big deal, let alone us?"
"Yes, Second Master. Let's not talk about arms sales abroad, but we must have strong connections in China. If we can hook up with such a big shot, why would we stay in Chinatown?"
Master Yuan waved his hand and said seriously: "You two, of course I am not joking! I already have a ready-made relationship, and I am not planning to make it so big..."
So far, Yuan Yanshu, the Li couple and even the Anliang Headquarters are not qualified to engage in arms trade that easily amounts to millions or even tens of millions of dollars. However, if it is small-scale arms smuggling, it is a different matter. An underground gang like the Hongmen is the most suitable one to do this.
So what can be done about small-scale arms smuggling? Will our Master Yuan still care about this little money?
In fact, there was really great potential in doing this in 1920, and the money was not a small amount.
Do you know how much a rifle bullet can be sold for in northern Serbia? It's shocking to say that one dollar is equivalent to 0.63 taels of customs silver.
What is the price of a six-shot rifle plus a hundred bullets in the South now? It's really a bit exaggerated, a full 150 yuan! In America, you can buy a good revolver for a few US dollars.
In 1920... In fact, the price of Serbian arms was so outrageous before 1924.
On May 5, 1919, the day after the May 4th Movement, the Beijing diplomatic corps sent a note to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Beiyang government on behalf of the eight governments of Britain, the United States, France, Japan, Spain, Portugal, Brazil , and Tsarist Russia, stating that since the north and south of China had not yet been unified, the friendly countries opposed the resumption of war, so before the establishment of a unified government recognized by all provinces in China, they would restrict their citizens and prohibit the import of "arms and materials for the manufacture of arms" into China. The note also mentioned that the Dutch, Belgian, Italian, and Danish envoys in China also agreed.
In fact, the reasons why the great powers could jointly agree to this ban are very complicated: Tsarist Russia, which had always been ambitious for Serbia, had perished, and its ambassador in China was just a figurehead; Britain and the United States hoped that this huge economic colony would be peaceful and easy to trade with as soon as possible, and at the same time limit China's military development; on the one hand, Japan was experiencing the resignation of the Terauchi Masatake cabinet due to the "rice riots", and on the other hand, it encountered the anti-Japanese climax of the May Fourth Movement; and other countries were simply bystanders.
After that, the great powers, regardless of the diplomatic protests raised by the Beijing government, directly controlled their people and prohibited them from selling arms to the Chinese. Not only did the great powers no longer sign arms sales contracts with Chinese warlords, but they also put the delivery of previous contracts on hold. The embargo was particularly strict before 1924, and the price of arms soared.
Of course, our Master Yuan wants to engage in arms smuggling, but money is secondary, he has bigger ambitions!
