lovenovelstory Chapter 19 Agreement Reached
Chapter 19 Agreement Reached
The meeting room was filled with smoke.
George Dewey held a cigarette between his right fingers, taking a few puffs every now and then.
Chen Feng sat in the chair, his left hand supporting his chin, his expression calm.
As the cigarette was about to burn out, George Dewey slowly spoke: "In my impression, Chinese people always have queues hanging down the back of their heads, which makes them seem backward and ignorant. I rarely see an intelligent person like you."
Chen Feng smiled and said, "Chinese people are very smart, but their minds are restricted."
"You're right!" George Dewey nodded, as if lost in memories, and after a moment he continued, "I've met Li Hongzhang of the Qing Dynasty. He was a smart man, but he was constrained by the situation and didn't accomplish much."
Chen Feng remained silent, unwilling to comment on the person.
George Dewey then asked, "What is your view of the Qing Dynasty?"
"The Qing Dynasty was like an old man on his deathbed, with only his last breath left," Chen Feng said truthfully.
George Dewey's gaze suddenly sharpened: "Do you have any ideas?"
Chen Feng said calmly, "That's too far in the future; I haven't thought about it yet."
"Alright! We can discuss this another time." George Dewey stubbed out his cigarette and said solemnly, "I can support the Chinese Free Army."
Although there is only one word difference between "I" and "we," it is impossible for someone in a high position to make this mistake in negotiations.
Chen Feng keenly sensed the problem and immediately declared loudly, "We, the Chinese Free Army, will never forget any benefactors, especially those like you, General, who offered help in our time of need."
George Dewey's face showed satisfaction: "I can give you five hundred rifles and ten thousand rounds of ammunition right now, of course these are all old weapons that we've replaced."
"Thank you for your support, General!"
Although he initially asked for much less, Chen Feng did not haggle over the price.
George Dewey was even more satisfied with his performance and continued to promise, "I will personally give you another five thousand dollars in military funding and promise to give you the exclusive trading rights in Oronapole City. However, you have to find a way to take it yourself, and I will take a 50% stake."
He didn't shy away from saying this to Connor, clearly indicating a close relationship between the two.
Chen Feng roughly knew the location of Oronapole.
Located on the western side of the Bataan Peninsula, facing the sea to the south, this area is now a major agricultural production area, where rice, sugarcane, and other agricultural products are grown.
Compared to Manila, it's a poor place.
However, Oronapho has a deep-water port, which later became the famous Subic Naval Base. Although it is only just beginning construction, it has great potential for development.
Chen Feng wasn't picky and nodded, promising, "Fifty percent of the shares is no problem."
"It's a pleasure working with you!"
George Dewey stood up and extended his right hand.
Chen Feng quickly stepped forward and firmly grasped his right hand: "It's a pleasure doing business with you!"
"Connor will deliver the guns and ammunition I promised you. I have to go now." George Dewey withdrew his right hand, opened the conference room hatch, and walked out.
Connor followed him toward the hatch: "Come on, let's go to the armory!"
......
Chen Feng had assumed the weapons were on the USS Indiana, but it turned out they were on the merchant ship he had been on earlier. Clearly, these weapons were originally intended for the Independence Army.
Connor boarded the merchant ship and whispered a few words to a middle-aged man. Soon, people started carrying wooden crates out of the cabin.
Chen Feng randomly selected one and opened it. He saw that although the guns inside showed some signs of use, they were not exactly old.
The Springfield M1861 rifled rifle uses Minié cartridges, has an effective range of up to 800 meters, and weighs 4.3 kilograms.
Although it wasn't as advanced or as easy to use as the Mauser 1893 used by the Spanish, it was still much better than cold weapons.
Five hundred guns, packed into fifty wooden crates, plus ten crates of ammunition.
After counting the items, Connor went back into the cabin and waited for a long time before coming out carrying a heavy cloth bag: "This is five thousand dollars. Please count it."
Chen Feng took the bag, opened it, and saw that it was full of banknotes.
He thought they were gold or silver dollar coins!
This thing probably doesn't work well now!
Chen Feng casually pulled out a bill. The front had Lincoln's portrait in the center, with the words "Exchangeable for Gold" written in English below. The back had a red stamp surrounded by anti-counterfeiting patterns.
"This thing isn't working well right now!" Chen Feng complained in a low voice.
Connor shrugged: "There's nothing we can do. There are Spanish pesos on the ship, but those were allocated to the independence army by the General Staff, and the quantity can't be wrong."
"Alright!"
Chen Feng reluctantly agreed and squatted down on the ground to carefully count the items.
It's so troublesome!
They have denominations ranging from 1 cent to 20 dollars.
It took more than ten minutes to finish counting.
Chen Feng counted out a thousand dollars, and seeing that no one around him was paying attention to him, he immediately stuffed it into Connor's hand and said in a low voice, "I, Chen Feng, know how to be grateful the most."
"I love working with grateful people!" Connor quickly stuffed the dollars into his pocket with practiced ease.
"Ha ha!"
Chen Feng laughed loudly.
He vividly remembers that famous scene from later generations.
When dealing with rednecks, you have to constantly express gratitude, otherwise they will hold a grudge.
By the way, next time I meet with high-ranking U.S. military officials, I'll have to wear a suit.
The merchant ship sailed along the same route and soon returned to the bay.
Chen Feng estimated the height to be only five or six meters, so he simply jumped into the shuttle boat instead of climbing down the rope ladder.
On the beach, only Tian Gang and Kong Yunfei were there, and the two immediately gathered around.
"General, did the mission go smoothly?"
"What do Americans say?"
Chen Feng glanced back at Connor, who was directing the unloading, and shook his head, saying softly, "It's going smoothly. Tell the brothers to get up and move things over there."
"yes!"
Tian Gang straightened up, turned around, and jogged away.
Before long, Vinal was carried out on a stretcher, followed by the able-bodied men who emerged from the woods one after another.
At this time, Connor also arrived at the shore in a small boat.
Chen Feng went up to him and pointed at Vinar, saying, "He's yours now, but he's tight-lipped, so it'll be hard to extract any valuable information from him."
Connor shook his head: "You don't need to worry about that. This person has other uses."
Chen Feng, knowing that the man had already accepted his bribe, didn't bother with any more beating around the bush and asked directly, "What's it for?"
"There's a lot of anti-war sentiment in our country, especially regarding the war in Asia. This man has Spanish royal blood, and although his chances of inheriting the throne are incredibly slim—it's only theoretically possible—it's enough to shut up those anti-war congressmen in the country," Connor said without any hesitation.
"I see!"
Chen Feng nodded silently, thinking to himself that he had still sold it too cheaply.
For George Dewey, guns and ammunition were just that—guns and ammunition.
However, meeting George Dewey and receiving his promises were the greatest gains of the trip.
Without the support of the US military leadership, even if the Spanish were driven out, it would be difficult to establish a foothold in Luzon.