Time Travel to 1859: The Iron-Blooded Soldier King

The ministers of various countries walked into the lobby with their counselors and secretaries, greeted several ministers of the Zongli Yamen, and the bidding officially began.

Li Taiguo is now very confident, not only because his equipment is excellent and the price has been adjusted, but more importantly, Li Taiguo has persuaded some ministers in the court to exert their influence on his behalf. Moreover, with the strength of the British Empire, if he still cannot win the negotiation under such conditions, then there is really nothing to say.

Li Taiguo was the first to present his own plan: from the original plan of seven warships, it was changed to the current twelve warships, plus 15,000 artillery shells, with a total price of 4.5 million taels. In Li Taiguo's view, this was already a very good condition. You know, the original price of seven warships was already 5 million taels. All in all, it was already one-third cheaper.

Most importantly, Li Taiguo no longer insisted on having the British control the fleet. Instead, the British took control of the warships, and the command of the fleet was handed over to Qing generals. This was a huge concession, and the Chinese were also allowed to board the ships for study and training.

In Li Taiguo's opinion, even if such conditions are not the most favorable, they can be said to be one of the most favorable. Coupled with the powerful influence of the British Empire, it is inevitable that he will win this deal!

Soon after, the French also presented their own plan, with a total price of 4.2 million taels, and the rest of the conditions were almost the same as the British. Li Taiguo's face changed, but he did not move in the end. The difference of 300,000 taels of silver was still acceptable to Li Taiguo. The French could not snatch this order!

Next, Spain and the Netherlands jointly presented their own plan. It was a bit difficult for one country to take on this order, so the two countries joined forces to compete for it. The total price was 4 million taels, which could help the Qing government train a navy, but it would require an additional 800,000 taels of personnel expenses!

When it came to the Russian envoy, he directly offered a price of 3.5 million taels, but the requirement was that the fleet must have a general designated by the Russian government to serve as the fleet commander!

Are you kidding? If it was designated by the Tsarist Russian government, wouldn't the entire fleet fall into the hands of Tsarist Russia? Tsarist Russia's ambitions for China are obvious to everyone. If it wants to play a trick, how can it be hidden from Liu Ye's eyes?

Liu Ye remained calm and looked at Hua Ruohan, thinking to himself, brother, this time it all depends on you, don't let me down!

Hua Ruohan stood up confidently and said, "Your Excellency Prince Gong, General Liu Ye, our offer from the United States is 2.6 million taels of silver. We can allow you to pay in installments over three to five years. We can help you train a naval force and technical personnel, and we will also allow you to send a team to America to study..."

Hua Ruohan spoke eloquently and listed his conditions one by one.

Everyone present was stunned. Are you kidding me? Is this Hua Ruohan crazy? In this era, all arms trades are highly profitable. Profits must be at least double the amount before anyone will do it!

Because of the competition among various countries, everyone has pushed down the price. If there is no public bidding, this order will definitely not be done without five or six million taels of silver!

Two million six hundred thousand taels of silver! The profit the Americans could get would definitely not exceed five hundred thousand taels. What could they do with such a small amount of profit? And the installment payment was even more unacceptable. Was Hua Ruohan stupid?

Hua Ruohan was not stupid, but Li Taiguo and Bruce were the ones who were stupid now! After all, neither of them had dreamed that the Americans would come up with such a plan. This was simply risking their lives. How could this be played?

"Mr. John Warren! As the British Minister, I solemnly protest to you! You absolutely cannot do this. This is unfair competition. It will seriously damage the interests of the arms dealers. I demand that you change your current plan!"

Bruce stood up first and shouted at Hua Ruohan.

"Yes, Mr. John Hua, your trade proposal from the United States of America is simply too outrageous. We cannot accept it. You must change your order!"

French Minister Criston also shouted.

Don’t play like this, it hurts others and doesn’t benefit yourself!

Hua Ruohan smiled and said, "Everyone, we are competing fairly. I have not had any private contact with the prime ministers present here, nor have I lost money to gain publicity. I have simply compressed my profits. After all, while making money, the United States of America also needs to establish a long-term friendship with the Qing government. This is our gift to the Qing government, and it also expresses our respect for General Liu Ye of the Qing Dynasty!"

Bruce said angrily, "Hua Ruohan, don't give us that! What long-lasting friendship? I think you're just here to cause trouble. Don't let us gang up on you! That would be bad for everyone!"

Hua Ruohan sneered and replied, "Mr. Bruce, this isn't just my idea. I have a telegram from Tianjin. Mr. Colt and Mr. Zacpolly, the two chairmen of the Colt Arms Company and Zac Shipyard in the United States, have offered to make concessions on the amount of funds to express their gratitude to General Liu Ye. It's written in black and white that they took the initiative to ask for a reduction!"

amount……

Everyone was stunned as they watched the telegram Hua Ruohan threw on the table. If it were a state action, they could intervene. But this was a decision made by two arms companies, something no government could interfere with. How could global trade proceed in that case? For such a deal, did governments even have to intervene? Forget it. Whether it was the president, the king, or the prime minister, no one had the time to care about such a deal. Ten warships, not a big deal for a head of state.

Bruce slammed his fist down on the table, causing the pens on it to jump up, "Asshole!"

Liu Ye on the side nodded slightly to Prince Gong, indicating that Prince Gong should express his opinion.

Prince Gong stood up and said with a smile, "My dear ministers, when we sent out the invitation letter, we, the Great Qing Empire, made our position clear: those with the best conditions win. This is our fundamental principle! I believe the truth is now clear. Mr. Hua Ruohan, I hope we can have a pleasant cooperation..."

Bruce glared at Guiliang, Prime Minister, Guiliang!

Gui Liang opened his mouth with difficulty, but in the end, no words came out. He thought to himself, "Bruce, I can't help you with this. Your offer is too outrageous. The difference is nearly two million taels of silver. If I jump out to object, I'm afraid I'll be exiled to Ningguta immediately!"