Wild North America 1846

Chapter 41 A List of Material Requirements

Next morning
Grassland

The room in the town hall was filled with a strong aroma of coffee. Li Cha led Gai Wangshan, Gao Shiheng, Liu Wu and other men to come here and was welcomed by Captain William Richardson.

Both parties paid more attention to this meeting.

In addition to the grocery store owner Odom Russell, William Richardson's side also has three new faces, the respected Dutch captain Doug, the town mayor Fox and the British adventurer Ronald Evanson. The negotiating lineup for the interests of Fangcaodi.

"Please sit down, Mr. Li Cha. The development of the Tang Dynasty in the past half a month has been impressive, and the future is even more worth looking forward to. I think it's time to sit down and have a good talk."

Captain John Richardson still led the negotiations on the side of Fangcao. He made a "please sit down" gesture, and then sat beside the long table, and the others sat down one after another.

"Thank you, Mr. Captain John, I have been looking forward to this meeting, and I hope it will be a good start for the cooperation between the two parties."

Li Cha sat down calmly, and his eyes stayed a little longer on the Dutch captain Doug and the British adventurer Ronald Evanson, revealing a dignified meaning.

as far as he knows;
Doug was born in a down-and-out aristocratic family in the Netherlands. He is the second son of a family who has no right to inherit the title of nobility. He left Amsterdam to travel around the world when he was young. Meadows is a respected big shot.

Marriages among European royal families are frequent, especially the British and Dutch royal families, both of which belong to Protestant countries.

Therefore, Doug's aristocratic status made him highly respected in the North American continent, and he was able to develop a good personal friendship with Rear Admiral Bacon, commander of the Royal Navy's Caribbean Fleet, and was even invited to attend the engagement ceremony of Rear Admiral Bacon's daughter.

The implications of this are worth pondering.

The British adventurer Ronald Evenson is another type. These so-called adventurers have great powers and mysterious backgrounds. They may be spies or spies sent by the Colonial Department of the British Empire to various parts of the world.

This is a tradition that originated from the Age of Discovery. Those Europeans under the guise of missionaries or adventurers went deep into the deserts of West Asia and the rainforests of the Indochina Peninsula with ulterior motives, and explored unknown islands and the Amazon in South America. All over the continents of Asia, Africa and Latin America, there are rare places.

Followed by European colonists and armies, setting off round after round of frenzy to carve up colonies.

Among them, emerging colonial powers such as Britain and France are the main ones, and they are especially keen on this.

Li Cha didn't expect to see one here.

"Mr. Richard, according to your needs, I have already called New York. Mr. Samuel Colt, the famous gun designer, will leave with his team. It is expected to arrive here in three weeks. Come to a whole weapons manufacturing factory and a few excellent construction engineers."

The beginning of the talks
William Richardson threw out a surprising news, which shows the deep heritage of Fangcaodi.

Whether it is the United States or Europe on the other side of the Atlantic, Datang will need any talents or materials, Fangcaodi can meet the needs, it is such a hard core.

Hearing the good news, a gleam of joy flashed across Li Cha's brows, and he couldn't help but sit up straight and said, "Thank you, Mr. Captain, the arrival of Mr. Samuel Colt will be an exciting cooperation between us. beginning."

"You're welcome, Mr. Richard, Datang will pay for Mr. Colter's weapon factory and boat tickets. We just completed the transaction. For the sake of in-depth cooperation between the two parties, we will give you a preferential commission rate and transportation costs."

"That's reasonable. In addition, we need almost all supplies, including some factory equipment." Li Cha said, and took out a thick stack of paper from his body and handed it over.

William Richardson didn't expect him to be so direct. After a moment of surprise, he took it over and took a closer look. Captain Doug also leaned over curiously to study the demand list.

The list of material needs is very long, from cotton, iron billets, cocoa, coffee, tobacco, sugar, wheat flour, cowboy hats, gloves, blankets, nails, kerosene lamps, British woven cloth, French wine to 300 sewing machines, 50 Looms, chemical dyes, 20 sets of steam machine tools, 3000 spindles of textile machinery, and finally, two orders for 3400-ton iron-hulled steam ships.

The material order provided by Li Cha is not only large in quantity, but also of various types, and involves a high level of industry, especially sewing machines, looms, 20 sets of steam machine tools and 3000 spindles of textile machinery, all of which belong to the world's largest State-of-the-art industrial scientific and technological achievements.

The order of two 3400-ton iron-hulled steam ships is even more eye-catching. This alone is worth 23.7 pounds, which is a huge order for British shipyards and full of temptation.

As early as 1837

The British built the "Great West" iron-hulled steamship with a displacement of 3000 tons, which was able to cross the Atlantic route in 14 days and transport a large amount of materials and personnel. steam technology".

In 1843, the iron-hulled steamship "Great Britain", which had undergone major technological improvements, was launched, with a displacement of 3400 tons. The technical level of the steam turbine had reached maturity, and it was immediately put into the Atlantic route.

Since its operation, many steam iron-hulled ships have appeared in European and American countries, and they have gradually become the main fleet of transatlantic routes, and they are likely to replace sail cargo ships.

Sail cargo ships originally needed 2 to 3 months of Atlantic voyage, but today's steam iron-hulled ships only need eleven or two days. Not only does it have a large cargo capacity, it is easy to maintain, and it also requires fewer crew members, which is extremely economical. improve.

This list of material requirements with huge value brought a strong shock to the people in Fangcao, making them all silent.

The list was sent to the British adventurer Ronald Evanson. When he saw the order for two 3400-ton iron and steam ships, he couldn't help but swear: "Oh, Magga, Shet, are you sure this is not a joke? "

"I'm sure, Mr. Evanson." Richard replied very positively.

"Oh... I'm sorry, I was really shocked. Do you know how much these two advanced ships, which can be called the jewels of today's British shipbuilding industry, are worth? After the news came out, this order was enough to drive the British shipyards crazy Tang Hui's threshold."

"You mean ... a shipyard trade representative from Europe?"

"No, Europe is too far away. The British shipyard will entrust a former partner or an officer of the Caribbean Fleet, or... an adventurer like me." Afraid that Richard didn't understand what he meant, Ronald -Evanson shrugged his shoulders, and continued in a very earnest manner;

"Well...as far as I know;
There are at least 5 shipyards in Great Britain capable of producing the iron-hulled steamships you need. They all need ship orders to maintain sufficient technical capabilities and workforce, and to obtain reasonable profits. The competition among them is fierce.

And I happen to be familiar with the relevant personnel of the Portsmouth Royal Naval Dockyard in the United Kingdom. Now I only need an authorization telegram to talk about shipbuilding orders.

Please believe that if this is not a joke, you will get a good price.

As an adventurer, although he is keen to explore the unknown discoveries in the world, this does not prevent him from earning some extra money. The two are not contradictory. "

"Oh..." Richard suddenly realized, but he was not in a hurry to agree to Ronald Evanson's request.

After all, this is a cooperation with Fangcaodi. With Ronald Evanson not showing enough strength and William Richardson's unclear attitude, Richard will not make a hasty decision.

The total value of this order exceeds 30 pounds, equivalent to about 150 million U.S. dollars, or 7.6 ounces of gold, which is almost 2/3 of the current wealth of the Datang Club, and the value is astonishing.

If this business can be done, Fangcaodi can make a lot of money just by commission and transportation costs, and the temptation is beyond doubt.

This is the bargaining chip for Li Cha to deepen the cooperation between the two parties, trying to establish an all-round intimate relationship with Fangcaodi.

Li Cha doesn't believe in the friendship of the British. The most suitable relationship is to bind the interests of both parties closely together.

The material order he took out is enough to open 4 to 5 grocery stores, a clothing factory, a weaving factory, a weapon manufacturing factory, a medium-sized textile factory, and a shipping company with transoceanic transportation capabilities.

William Richardson did not expect that Datang would have such a big appetite. After careful consideration, he could only say "Sorry, please wait a moment, we will not reply you until we study it."

Finished
He took the material list and several others left the venue one after another, and discussed in private.

(End of this chapter)