Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

Li Taiguo and Bruce were very depressed. They had originally thought of taking this opportunity to make a fortune, but a small fleet actually asked the Qing court for 5 million taels of silver, and at the same time, they had to allocate 1.5 million taels every year. In the past three or four years, that would be tens of millions of taels of silver, which was definitely a windfall. Even if they made some concessions to the Qing court in the end, they would definitely make a lot of money!

But what I didn’t expect was that things went wrong halfway through!

The Qing court's Minister of Foreign Affairs actually sent a note to all countries, publicly soliciting suppliers. Each country was asked to submit a proposal, and the Qing court would choose the most favorable one to cooperate with. Now, what should be done? Who would be willing to spit out the fat meat that was delivered to the door?

Although the British Empire claims that no one dares to disobey its orders, that is just empty talk. In such a situation, no one has the right to force the opponent to withdraw. Fair competition really depends on fair competition in the market, so naturally the cheaper the better. With such competition, let alone nearly 10 million taels of silver, being able to maintain half or even one-third of the original profit is already a blessing!

This really means I got up very early and arrived late.

Bruce looked at Li Taiguo helplessly and said, "Li Taiguo, what should we do now?"

Li Taiguo said aggrievedly, "What can we do? What can we do? As long as we want to make this money, then we have to join the competition. Damn it, I'm afraid the Americans and the French will be so happy now. The way we came up with to make money is actually being taken advantage of by others. It's really frustrating!"

Bruce asked, "How do you compete? Do you have any idea?"

Li Taiguo took a deep breath and replied, "Mr. Bruce, I've been researching this deal for six months. Although our profits may decline significantly, we still have an advantage. Our warship technology is the best in the world, our artillery technology is also at the forefront, and our influence in China is enormous. As long as we lower the price, the Americans and French will definitely not be able to compete with us. Let's give them a good competition!"

Compared to the British's depression, the American Minister John Warren was overjoyed. As an American minister, wasn't his greatest responsibility to fight for the interests of the Americans? Fortunately, he got the news in time and leaked it, otherwise he would have missed it.

When Liu Ye made the move to resign, Hua Ruohan was shocked. Without Liu Ye, it would be very difficult to accomplish this task. The British were not so easy to deal with. Without sufficient connections and strength, it would be extremely difficult to make the Qing court change its ways. Who would offend the British, who were in their heyday, for the sake of others?

However, only three or four days later, an invitation was placed on Hua Ruohan's desk.

Hua Ruohan was completely relieved. With Liu Ye in charge, he was absolutely assured. As long as he gave Liu Ye enough face and allowed him to maintain the dignity and interests of the country, this deal would definitely be a good one. As for the benefits, Hua Ruohan didn't worry about them at all. After all, the two of them had collaborated so many times before that there was no need to dwell on this one deal. Steady progress and mutual trust were the true long-term strategies for doing business.

After receiving the invitation, Hua Ruohan began to think about how to plan this project.

At the same time as receiving the invitation, Liu Ye’s personal letter had also arrived, and the news had been revealed: Train a navy for me, train a navy for me, and then this business will be yours!

Hua Ruohan naturally understood what Liu Ye meant. Apart from the price, what Liu Ye cared about most was to directly control this navy and hold this powerful force in his own hands!

That's easy.

First, the price. At current construction costs, twelve warships could be purchased for roughly 1.6 million taels of silver. Training the navy requires professional naval instructors. Twelve warships would require approximately 2,000 personnel, including over 100 technicians and over 400 operators. Adding in specialized gunners and marines, 2,000 would be sufficient. The Americans would need at least 200 professional officers to train these 2,000 men, and the training would take one to two years. The price? At an average of 1,000 taels per person over two years, that would be 200,000 taels. Dozens of guns and over 10,000 shells would only cost 300,000 taels. That works out to 2.1 million taels of silver, more than enough. Of course, Liu Ye would still make a profit. After all, business is business, and without profit, how could this be accomplished?

Well, adding the profit of 500,000 taels of silver, that should be enough. If it’s more, Liu Ye will probably be unhappy. Since we have to do a favor, we have to do it nicely, so that we can gain more benefits when Liu Ye takes power in the future!

Hua Ruohan was a shrewd man and quickly figured out the key points and worked out a plan.

First, four medium-sized warships, totaling one million taels of silver; eight small warships, totaling nine hundred thousand taels of silver;

Second, sixteen main guns and fifty-six secondary guns, totaling four hundred thousand taels of silver, along with fifteen thousand rounds of standard artillery shells;

Third, they recruited 200 American naval instructors to train them over a two-year period, with a total salary of 300,000 taels. The Qing government would also cover their clothing, food, travel, and other daily expenses.

Fourth, to demonstrate Sino-US friendship, the United States can accept 200 Chinese apprentices to study at the U.S. Naval Academy and shipyards free of charge;

Fifth, in order to facilitate the Qing government in raising funds, the Qing government could adopt the installment payment method, paying off the loan in five installments within three years, and the interest would be calculated based on the internationally accepted interest standards.

It can be said that in order to get this deal, Hua Ruohan has racked his brains. He has only one goal, which is to take down the Qing court and make Liu Ye satisfied. He has benefited a lot from Liu Ye, and now he should return the favor, which is the way of friendship.

While Hua Ruohan was making careful preparations, other countries also began to take nervous action. Not only France, but also Spain and the Netherlands were alarmed! Even the Russian Empire got involved!

Soon, April 25th arrived. Although half a month of preparation time was not short, it was also very tense.

In the lobby of the Zongli Yamen, Yi Xin, Wen Xiang and Liu Ye sat steadily in the middle seats, waiting for the arrival of ministers from various countries. A fierce struggle between the open and the secret began!