Anti-Japanese War, weapons designer at Fengtian Arsenal

Li Xin still served tea to Major Bilov, because he knew that if he said the next words, this guy would not be in a hurry to leave.

"Mr. Petrov, I really need your help with something."

Petrov didn't expect this guy to take advantage of the situation, but he thought it would be good to return the favor, so he asked, "Sir, please tell me. As long as it doesn't violate the principles and it's something I can do, I will do my best."

"Please rest assured, Mr. Petrov, this is absolutely not against principle. On the contrary, it is a great thing for you."

Li Xin had a smile on his face and took a sip of the tea.

"Mr. Petrov, I read in the newspaper that your country has completed several five-year plans and has strong industrial strength. I wonder if I can purchase construction equipment from your country in the name of a private company?"

Petrov raised his eyebrows. He never expected that the Chinese man in front of him would ask him to buy construction equipment. He looked up and down at Li Xin's clothes, as if he wanted to gauge whether this guy had the ability to do business with his motherland.

Li Xin's tricks couldn't scare the rich and powerful in Kaifeng, but they could scare Major Petrov.

In Major Petrov's opinion, Li Xiao exuded the stench of capitalist money from head to toe, and he couldn't help but pick up the tea in front of him and take a sip.

"Sir, it seems that you had planned to contact Tchaikovsky in advance."

Li Xin did not deny it and nodded. This was not something that needed to be hidden.

Petrov took another sip of his tea and asked, "So sir, what kind of machinery do you want to buy? What is it for?"

Li Xin saw that he drank the tea he poured for him many times, and knew that he had decided to sit down and have a good talk, so he got straight to the point and said, "Heavy construction machinery, I need a lot of heavy construction machinery!

Excavators, road rollers, rock crushers, ore conveyors, probably hundreds of them.”

"Sukabule! Sir! Do you know what you are talking about? This is a business worth tens of millions of rubles!"

Petrov almost jumped up from the sofa. Although he was a military attaché, if he could bring such a large order to the motherland, then please don't call me Major Petrov, please call me Lieutenant Colonel Petrov.

But Petrov was very clear-headed. He didn't know whether the Chinese man in front of him had such financial resources, so he shouldn't get excited too soon.

"Mr. Li Xin, are you sure you are not joking? I am expressing my gratitude to you in a private capacity, but if the transaction escalates to thousands of rubles, then I must inform the embassy. This will be a serious matter!"

Li Xin sat upright and looked seriously into Major Petrov's eyes.

"Mr. Petrov, I am very serious. After we have agreed on the price, I can directly pay a 10% deposit, and we can pay the rest of the money in exchange for the goods!"

Major Petrov confirmed that he was not joking and took him directly into the Soviet consulate to meet the Soviet consul.

The Soviet consul was a bald man in his 50s with a big belly. Petrov carefully told him about Li Xin's desire to buy a machine. His eyes immediately lit up and he pulled Li Xin into his office to discuss in detail.

"Mr. Li Xin, I am Consul Joseph Ovich Yuri. You can call me Yuri directly. Mr. Li Xin, I want to confirm with you again, do you really want to buy construction machinery from our country?"

Li Xin sighed in his heart. This was the nth time that the other party had confirmed with him. Damn it, he felt like his mouth was about to spit out nonsense. These people were still confirming, and he was getting annoyed.

At the same time, he made plans that when he had time, he would let Li Qinwu set up a well-known organization, the kind that others would know its importance as soon as they heard about it. It would be best if he could open a large international company, so that he would not have to demonstrate his strength every time he negotiated business with others.

Li Xin took out a list from his waist bag and handed it to Yuri.

"Mr. Consul, this is the list of equipment I want to buy. You can take a look. I am really sincere. After we negotiate the price, I can directly pay a 10% deposit!"

Yuri took the list and took a look at it. It mainly included 60 bulldozers, 10 concrete mixer trucks, 10 road rollers and other construction vehicles.

Such a large number made Yuri whistle.

"Oh sir, with so many heavy vehicles, are you going to set up a super construction company? The price of these things is at least 1000 million rubles. I need to report the specific price to the country, which will take a few days."

Li Xin nodded in agreement. Li Qinwu gave him a budget of 20 tons of gold to buy machines, which could be converted into 2000 million oceans, more than enough to buy more than 100 machines.

(ps: The author is an economic idiot. He checked the exchange rate between the US dollar and foreign currencies. It was so complicated that it cracked me up. The exchange rate was different in different periods. Sometimes, due to war, the ratio would be different from one month to the next.

Economic issues are not considered in this book, so please just ignore them. The exchange rate between the dollar, yen, ruble, mark and other currencies in this book is 1:1. The author really doesn't have the energy to go into these details, so please don't blame me.)

"Haha! Mr. Li Xin, we are friends now! I sincerely invite you to a banquet!"

Yuri was very excited. If he could bring such a large order to his motherland, it would add a highlight to his resume and greatly benefit his career.

He now likes this young man Li Xin more and more. There happens to be a banquet tonight and the dignitaries of Kaifeng have invited him to attend. On a whim, he plans to take Li Xin with him.

Li Xin had no objection. He was arranged by Li Qinwu to be in Kaifeng City to make friends with the powerful and influential. Being able to attend such a banquet with the Soviet consul would be of great help to his work.

That evening, Li Xin took the Soviet consul's car to the banquet venue, a four-story high-end Western restaurant.

Many dignitaries had already arrived at the scene, and a large number of cars were parked outside the hotel. In China, which had not yet completed industrialization, it was easy to imagine the identities of these people to see so many cars appearing at the same time.

Li Qinwu was almost dragged into the banquet by Yuri. The fat man with a big belly showed great enthusiasm towards Li Xin.

Entering the banquet venue, there were a large amount of exquisite food on the long table, waiters in formal attire were holding high-end red wine, and there was a piano in the middle of the hall, where a piano master was playing light music.

This was a Western-style dinner dance. Everyone found their own topics of conversation and started chatting with red wine glasses in hand.

Those who could attend such banquets were all heavyweights, such as the then Kaifeng mayor He Qigong, Henan University President Lin Boxiang, and Commerce Minister Jiao Guohe.

Yuri took Li Xin and introduced him to the three of them, as if he was introducing a new friend of different ages that he had just made.

Although Li Xin has been in the circle of power and wealth for a long time, the three people in front of him are real heavyweights. As for his friends, they would never bring him to such a truly prestigious banquet, so he behaved very generously, trying to make the three people in front of him remember him.

He Qigong and Lin Boxiang were both very kind. They spoke to Li Xin with a smile, shook hands with him, asked about his recent situation like an elder, and encouraged the young man to work hard.

But Commerce Minister Jiao Guohe became wary of Li Xin. He learned from Yuri's few words that the young man in front of him actually wanted to buy machinery and equipment from the Soviet Union. He was in charge of commerce and was very sensitive to such matters.

He asked Li Xin in confusion: "Mr. Li Xin, you are going to buy so many machines and equipment from a foreign country. Have you followed the formal procedures? Under what name are you conducting your business activities? If you cannot pay for the machines you buy from the Soviet Union, it will damage the reputation of the country. Have you reported this to the Ministry of Commerce?"

He spoke somewhat aggressively and Li Xin was stumped for a moment. Yuri, who brought him to the banquet, had no intention of resolving the situation. He stood by and watched the show with a glass of red wine in his hand. This fat guy was not as honest as he looked. He was much more cunning.

One of the purposes of bringing Li Xin to the banquet was to let their own people test Li Xin's character. With such a large transaction, it was impossible for him to believe everything Li Xin said, so he had to test him.

"This... has not yet been reported to the Ministry of Commerce. This commercial activity is just a draft and is in the planning stage. It has not yet been implemented. For the time being, I have only asked the Soviet consul about the price of the equipment. When I really want to purchase the machine, I will report it to the Ministry of Commerce."

The conversation here attracted some people's attention. In a corner of the banquet hall, several young people gathered together to chat. These young people were the children of Kaifeng's powerful and wealthy, commonly known as playboys.

One of the playboys spotted Li Xin with the mayor's group and was stunned for a moment, then poked a young man who was chatting with a girl with his arm.

"Hey, Jiao Miao, isn't that Li Xin who's talking to your father over there?"

The young man named Jiao Miao looked in the direction the other party was pointing, and happened to see Li Xin talking to his father Jiao Guohe.

"Hmm? Why is this clown here? Did any of you invite him?"

Several young men shook their heads. They all claimed to be the top class in Kaifeng City. It was okay for them to play with the clown Li Xin sometimes, but how could they bring him to such a prestigious banquet.

Seeing everyone shaking their heads, Jiao Miao looked at Li Xin who was trying to say something, and found it very interesting. He strode over and shouted to Li Xin: "Hey! Li Sanjin! Why are you here?"