mtl008 Chapter 153 Perfect Closed Loop
Chapter 153 Perfect Closed Loop
Zhang Wenwu looked down on Captain Taylor in his heart. He knew that the other party was joking. All the gasoline in China was imported. He did not have any refineries at all, and no oil had been discovered in China. But how could he let Taylor have the upper hand with words? So he said with a smile: "Oh, warships are fine too, and the more tanks and planes the better." Just bragging, and you even sold the warships to me. Is that something you, a captain, can decide?
Taylor and Smith also laughed happily. They felt that it was really easy to communicate with Zhang Wenwu. They could make a lot of jokes that Chinese people couldn't accept. Captain Taylor laughed for a while and then said, "Major Zhang, I don't really have a tank, but I do have a plane. If you want one, haha."
Zhang Wenwu became alert upon hearing this and said quickly: "Okay, Captain Taylor, what model of plane is it? How many are there? How much is one?" He knew how much the Chinese Air Force had lost after the battle in Shanghai. If he could buy a plane, it would provide the Chinese Air Force with more power to defend its airspace.
Taylor and Smith were both visibly stunned. Taylor looked at Zhang Wenwu and saw that he didn't look like he was joking, so he said uncertainly: "Major Zhang, do you really want to buy a plane? Can you fly it? Aren't you in the Army? Do you know how much it will cost?"
"Of course, I am very sure, Captain Taylor, just tell me how many planes you can sell me, what models, and how much they cost." Zhang Wenwu directly expressed that he really wanted to buy the planes. As for Taylor's other questions, he ignored them. He was buying the planes, not having to fly them himself.
When Smith heard that Zhang Wenwu really wanted to buy a plane, he was greatly surprised. You know, an airplane is not cheap. Zhang Wenwu must be too rich.
"Major Zhang, we have a newest P-36 aircraft in our military camp warehouse that has not yet been assembled. If you really want to buy it, I need to go back and discuss it with other people. But as for the price, I think it will not be less than US dollars. The performance of this aircraft exceeds all the current aircraft of the Japanese army. It is our latest equipment." Looking at Zhang Wenwu's anxious expression, Taylor had to tell him the situation.
When Zhang Wenwu heard the price, he was also shocked. It was really expensive. Taylor looked at Zhang Wenwu who was smoking with a frown, and felt that Zhang Wenwu definitely could not afford this price. But he could not sell the plane to him at a low price. You know, this matter still needs the consent of the officers in charge, and they also need actual benefits before they will sell the plane secretly.
Smith also fell silent after hearing the price. He looked at Zhang Wenwu's expression and knew that Zhang Wenwu probably didn't have so much money to buy the plane.
After the three of them were silent for about five minutes, Zhang Wenwu raised his head and asked Taylor with a serious face: "Captain Taylor, I don't have that much US dollars. Can we trade with gold?"
Taylor and Smith were petrified when they heard Zhang Wenwu's words. They didn't expect that Zhang Wenwu could really come up with so much money. Moreover, gold is a more valuable currency than the US dollar. No one can refuse the golden gold.
"Major Zhang, are you sure? There will be no problem with gold. We accept gold to purchase anything." After Taylor reacted, he said to Zhang Wenwu excitedly that if he could receive gold, he and those officers would be very satisfied.
When Zhang Wenwu heard that Taylor could accept gold for trading, he quickly asked, "Captain Taylor, when can we inspect the goods and trade?"
Taylor was in a good mood now, and his mind was now on the deal with Zhang Wenwu, but he knew that he needed to go back and discuss this matter with those officers, so he smiled and comforted him: "Major Zhang, I need to talk to the other officers about this matter. In addition, I also need to discuss the specific price with everyone. This will take time. I will reply to you within two days. What do you think?"
After listening to Taylor's words, Zhang Wenwu felt that this was indeed the case, so he nodded in agreement.
In the afternoon meeting, everyone may have had a better lunch, so the debate was several levels more intense than that in the morning. Zhang Wenwu watched everyone's hard work seriously with the mood of watching a play. If he could be given a plate of sunflower seeds, it would be perfect.
The Japanese representative first pointed the finger at the British, saying that the British had not fulfilled their responsibilities. At this time, Smith stood up angrily and said loudly that the British officers and soldiers stationed in Shanghai had completed their tasks diligently and responsibly, and the Chinese army had also cooperated in disarming. There was no problem on his side and he did not need to be responsible for this incident. At the same time, he also asked Japanese diplomats to compensate for the public facilities in the British Concession that were damaged in the riots last night, and he took out a piece of document paper with a list of damaged facilities from his pocket and handed it to the Japanese representative, which made the Japanese representative so angry that he almost tore up the paper on the spot.
Seeing the British's tough attitude, the Japanese prepared to make trouble for the United States, accusing the United States of being responsible for the incident. The escape of the Chinese soldiers was caused by the negligence of the U.S. Marine Corps. As a result, Captain Taylor directly and loudly refuted that the chaos was entirely caused by the British police station's failure to maintain order among the people. Only more than 200 officers and soldiers of his Marine Corps participated in the operation, and they were unable to control the situation at the time, so they kicked the ball back to the British side.
At this time, Inspector Dick of the British Police Station also stood up and said that the British Concession Police Station had sent all the patrolmen it could to maintain order, but there were too many Chinese people at the scene, and because the Japanese sent people to cause trouble, and the Chinese were unorganized and undisciplined, they had no way to control the situation. The Chinese government should bear the responsibility for this.
The representative of the Chinese government was confused. How did this come back to their side after all this? Does this have anything to do with the Chinese government? In addition, last night, a group of people came out of nowhere and beat up several Chinese representatives on their side. Now even their eyes are black and their bodies are in pain all over.
The accusation from the British police made the people in the Chinese delegation angry. They insisted that it had nothing to do with the Chinese government. Their government had already allowed the defenders of the warehouse to enter the concession and lay down their weapons as required. If it weren't for the Japanese making trouble, such a problem would not have arisen. Finally, the Chinese representatives made a rare firm demand that the Japanese representatives must be responsible for compensating the medical expenses of the injured representatives in the Chinese delegation.
The Japanese representative was also depressed and repeatedly stated that the chaos was caused by someone pretending to be Japanese. However, the American representative asked the Japanese representative to provide credible evidence to prove that those people were pretending to be Japanese. The Japanese representative stated on the spot that he would send people into the concession to investigate and arrest people. The British representative said that this was not in compliance with the regulations of the concession. The Japanese representative said that they could ask the police station to arrest people. Dick from the police station said that his men had been working overtime to investigate, but there was no clue at all. He suspected that this was a play directed and acted by the Japanese. The Japanese representative said that this was slander and that Japan absolutely did not do such a thing. The American representative asked the Japanese representative to produce evidence to prove it. This formed a perfect unsolvable closed loop.
Zhang Wenwu was watching with great interest. He did not feel sleepy at all during the whole afternoon. The interaction and tug-of-war between these major countries was just like the textbook limit. Zhang Wenwu suspected that if the countries did not care, these people could hold meetings here for a lifetime with high salaries from the country. With only one topic, they could hold meetings until everyone present died.
After everyone was tired and hungry from arguing, everyone reached a consensus again: everyone should go home, eat and rest well, and continue tomorrow morning.
Zhang Wenwu and Smith dragged their tired bodies back to the British Consulate. Zhang Wenwu went to the room and called Cao Huaguo to have a meal together in the restaurant. Then Smith arranged a room next to Zhang Wenwu's previous room. Everyone went to rest as they could not bear it any longer.
On the morning of the next day, Zhang Wenwu was dragged by Smith to attend the meeting of the mediation team. The meeting was still intense but lacked conclusions. The style remained the same and the performances of representatives from various countries were as steady as ever.
After the meeting that day, Captain Taylor asked Smith to tell Zhang Wenwu that he would go to the British Consulate in the evening to discuss the transaction with him. This made Zhang Wenwu's drowsy head suddenly sober up. As soon as he returned to the consulate, he quickly asked Cao Huaguo to count the amount of gold to ensure accuracy.
At 8:30 in the evening, Captain Taylor drove to the British Consulate alone. Smith enthusiastically took him to the office, and Zhang Wenwu, who had been waiting there, immediately stood up to welcome him.
"Captain Taylor, I believe you have brought me good news." Zhang Wenwu said to Taylor with a smile after everyone sat down.
Taylor also took a sip of coffee and said, "Of course, America is willing to provide any help to good friends. Major Zhang, you are our good friend."
"Of course, Captain Taylor, I wonder what price our American friends are going to give to their good friend?" Zhang Wenwu asked slowly. He knew that Taylor and his team must have already discussed a price range internally before coming to negotiate the price with him.
"Major Zhang, I have discussed with several officers in charge, and you only need to pay 36 US dollars or the equivalent in gold for this brand new, unassembled P- aircraft." Taylor stared at Zhang Wenwu and stated a price.
When Zhang Wenwu heard the price, he found it not expensive. You know, Taylor and his men were stealing and selling core military materials, and the risks they took were not small. There must be some interests that moved them before they would do such a thing. But he still had to bargain with Taylor, not for anything else, but purely out of habit. Foreigners would never experience the joy of bargaining.
(Thanks to Wu Rong who loves Thai almond pastry, Yun Qiufeng who loves meat burgers, Wei Guogong who loves beef jerky, Lu Yilin who likes to chop melons, Void Jarvan IV, Tianle, Zhi Xia Xia, Si Bu, for their gifts! Thank you all for your support and encouragement!)