According to declassified information, before the fall of Shanghai, Song Ziwen ordered a total of more than one million taels of gold to be withdrawn from the vaults of the Bank of Eight Nations. This gold was originally intended to be transported to the rear area as an equivalent to purchase weapons and equipment from the Soviet Union. However, the gold was encountered during the shipment. After being bombed by Japanese bombers, his whereabouts were immediately unknown.
One tael of gold is approximately equal to one ounce, and one million taels is one million ounces.
When he thought that this was probably a huge amount of gold worth millions of ounces, Xu Rui's heart became uncontrollably eager. This was not because he was obsessed with wealth, but because this batch of gold was too big for the Dameishan base. It's important because the base area is in urgent need of money, a lot of money.
Don't look at the fact that there is still some money in the base area. There are still jewelry worth more than 200,000 yuan in the vault of Meishan Bank, as well as about 200,000 yuan in cash. But this amount of money is really too much for an army with more than 2,000 people. It's nothing, because just raising troops costs hundreds of thousands every year.
This is only now. In the future, the army will expand and the expenses will be even greater.
The uniforms, shoes, hats, equipment, and rations of the officers and soldiers all require money.
The biggest expense is weapons and ammunition. Damaged weapons need to be repaired, and repairs cost money. Even if you open an arsenal in the future, you still need to pay workers. Workers in arsenals are not saints. They also need to eat. And raising a family, right? Therefore, money is needed everywhere, and the little money in the treasury now is simply not enough.
Since the establishment of the base area, Xu Rui has been thinking about making money. The last time he made a small fortune from Pucheng, it just solved an urgent need and failed to fundamentally solve the problem. But if he could get Song Ziwen to withdraw from the vault of the Eight-Country Bank This large sum of gold can almost solve the problem fundamentally.
Not only because the amount of gold is extremely huge, but also because gold is an internationally accepted hard currency. There is no concern about depreciation even in peacetime, and it will only appreciate in wartime.
If it were legal currency worth more than one million taels of gold, something would be wrong.
Even though the National Government's legal currency is relatively stable now, in two years' time, when the National Government will run out of foreign exchange, and is forced to announce the cancellation of unlimited foreign exchange transactions, the value of the legal currency will fall off a cliff in a short time. Within a year, the value of the currency had dropped more than tenfold. By the end of the Anti-Japanese War, the legal currency had already plummeted.
Fortunately, what Song Ziwen withdrew from the vault of the Bank of Eight Nations was gold, not legal currency.
At that moment, Xu Rui said to Wang Husheng again: "Old Wang, as your witness, this bet has been finalized."
"Okay, I'll prove it, and the financial agreement is settled." Wang Husheng was also very curious, what kind of secret was Leng Tiefeng hiding in his heart
Leng Tiefeng chuckled and said: "Old Xu, I have never beaten you in bets before, but you will definitely lose this time. In two months, you may be able to buy machinery and equipment from Shanghai and open an arsenal." , but how can you find this weapons expert if you want to? Hehe, you will definitely lose this time."
"Really? That's not certain." Xu Rui smiled, "I still believe that saying, there are always more solutions than difficulties. When our arsenal is built, weapons experts will naturally appear."
Leng Tiefeng said: "Then I will wait and see."
Seeing Leng Tiefeng turn around and walk out, Xu Rui said again: "Veteran, don't rush to tell the three soldiers now, give them a surprise when the time comes, hey."
Leng Tiefeng did not look back, but turned his back to Xu Rui and waved his hand.
"This veteran." Wang Husheng said with a smile, "It seems that he has entered the role of Captain Langya."
After a pause, Wang Husheng said again: "Old Xu, do you really plan to let the veteran become the captain of the Wolf Fang?"
Xu Rui nodded and said: "It's not sweet to be stubborn. Since the veteran likes to be the captain of the Wolf Fang so much, then let him be. Besides, I can see that the veteran is really not enthusiastic about commanding the battle formation."
Wang Husheng asked again: "What about the 3rd Battalion? Although He Shuya is a good seedling, he is still a little green after all."
Xu Rui nodded and said: "The nerd is indeed a little too young now. It may not be a good thing to put such a heavy burden on him all of a sudden. We can't do anything to encourage growth, so for the time being, I will also serve as the commander of the 3rd Battalion. After a year and a half, the nerd has already mastered it, and it’s not too late to hand over the 3rd Battalion to him.”
"I agree." Wang Husheng nodded and said, "Are you really sure about the bet just now?"
"It's not difficult to build an arsenal. As long as we have money, we can buy machinery and equipment. But..." Xu Rui paused here and said, "This weapons expert is really in trouble."
Wang Husheng said: "How about I call Wu Qian over and we ask him. Maybe he knows some experts or professors who are proficient in weapons manufacturing."
"Forget it, we can't count on domestic experts and professors." Xu Rui shook his head.
It’s not that Xu Rui looked down on domestic experts and professors, because at that time, China’s domestic humanities were pretty good, and a large number of literary giants and scholars emerged. However, in the field of natural sciences, it was frighteningly poor, almost There is no one who can hold up the scene, except Qian Xuesen, who is still studying in the United States.
Wang Husheng also felt that there was little hope, so he said nothing more at the moment.
At this time, Xu Rui had no idea that a young weapons expert would appear soon.
(Dividing line)
Because he was leaving for Dameishan District the next day, David came to the arsenal in Hanyang overnight and wanted to modify a small pistol from the arsenal.
David was a trainee reporter for the Associated Press and could greet the Nationalist Government’s Wuhan camp through the U.S. Embassy. For the Nationalist Government at that time, American affairs, no matter how big or small, were all matters, so after receiving the greeting, the then Nationalist Government Minister of Industry Chen Gongbo personally accompanied David to the arsenal.
Although Chen Gongbo was a great traitor who was shamed by the world, at this time, he had not yet rebelled and surrendered to the enemy.
Regardless of his political and national stance, Chen Gongbo is actually a capable person. Otherwise, he would not have changed so many camps in just over ten years. First he was a representative of the Communist Party of China, and then he suddenly became He became a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Second National Congress of the Kuomintang, then became a representative figure against Chiang Kai-shek, then became a guest of Chiang Kai-shek, and then became the number two figure in the Wang Puppet Government. However, this last political speculation finally failed Waterloo not only cost lives, but was also nailed to the pillar of historical shame forever.
Although Chen Gongbo was very knowledgeable, having graduated from Peking University and then studying for a master's degree from Columbia University, he had no enthusiasm for natural sciences. Therefore, after accompanying David to the arsenal, he soon left with an excuse, leaving David behind. This distinguished guest of the American Legation was entrusted to a small technician from Hanyang Ordnance Industry.
This technician from Hanyang Arsenal is a technology geek.
At the beginning, he was not very enthusiastic about entertaining David, just because it was a task assigned by Minister Chen personally, so he had to entertain him. However, after accompanying David into the workshop, especially when he saw David's skillful After operating the machine and equipment for a series of processing, technician Zheng Jiakang immediately became interested.
I saw David first turning a long steel ingot he carried into a round shape, then using a boring machine to hollow out the middle, and then milling and polishing it inside. David operated the machine extremely skillfully and quickly turned the previous long steel ingot into a round shape. He processed the shaped steel ingot into a barrel, then took out a pen from his pocket and tried to fit the barrel into the pen.
"What are you doing?" Zheng Jiakang said in shock, "You want to make a pen gun?"
David turned around and looked at Zheng Jiakang blankly. He couldn't understand what Zheng Jiakang was talking about.
Zheng Jiakang quickly called an engineer who knew English to help translate. After listening to the engineer's translation, David nodded and smiled: "Yes, because the place I am going to go to tomorrow is surrounded by the Japanese army. Although I am Americans and Japanese may not dare to do anything to me, but it is always right to be careful."
David listened to Stilwell's suggestion and decided to go to Dameishan to conduct an exclusive interview with Xu Rui.
But when we go to Damei Mountain, we have to pass through the Japanese defense area, so I want to bring a pen gun for self-defense. Although such a pen gun actually doesn't have much effect, it's better than nothing, right? At least at critical moments, this pen pistol can still play some role.
Zheng Jiakang was not interested in these at all. He was interested in David's craftsmanship.
Although David just simply missed a move, Zheng Jiakang could still feel that this American was a very powerful old fitter, and he immediately asked: "Mr. David, I would like to ask, what level of fitter are you? "
While David was using a tool to draw wire on the newly machined barrel, he casually made a six with his right hand.
Zheng Jiakang's eyes immediately stared at the boss, a sixth-level fitter? Didn't this American say he was a reporter? Why was he still a level six fitter
You must know that even in Hanyang Arsenal, level six fitters are rare.
There are eight levels in the old benchwork. A level eight fitter is already the highest level of fitter. The precision of spare parts processed by a level eight fitter is even higher than that processed by an automatic lathe, such as the rockets of New China. , Screws machined by lathes just won’t work, only screws made by an eighth-level experienced fitter can be used.
Although there is still two levels difference between the level 6 fitter and the level 8 fitter, they are still very good.
However, as the chat progressed, Zheng Jiakang was even more surprised. He discovered that this American was not only a sixth-level fitter, but also very knowledgeable about various firearms, such as the locking device of the Maxim heavy machine gun, the locking device of the German-made This American can explain the ammunition supply principle of the mg34 general machine gun.
"Mr. David, how do you know so much?"
"It's nothing, firearms are my hobby."
"Then how did you become a reporter?" Zheng Jiakang was puzzled.
David shrugged and said helplessly: "Hobby is a hobby, and work is work. Hobbies can't bring me income, but work can bring me considerable income, right?" (To be continued.)