Huang Xing, who was anxious and burning with anxiety, couldn't calm down: "Mr. Ye, I heard from Wen Zheng that you have some involvement in the arms trade?"

  Ye Zuwen chuckled: "I'm just a small businessman, how dare I do such a deadly business. It's just that after struggling in this market for so long, among the friends I know, there are a few who dare to play with this, and I'm just helping to introduce them, build a bridge, that's all, I don't dare ask or think about it!"

  Huang Xing nodded and asked: "I wonder if Mr. Ye can also help Huang Mou to pull a line, build a bridge. Of course, here will not let Mr. Ye work in vain."

  Ye Zuwen: "Huang Liushou thinks highly of me, and it's my honor to run errands for you. But I don't know what Huang Liushou needs me to do on his behalf?"

  Huang Xing hesitated for half a day before speaking out the plan he and Li Shucheng, Wang Zhenyu had discussed the night before: "To be honest with you, I have nearly 300,000 sets of military equipment to deal with here. There are mountain cannons and heavy machine guns among them, but what Huang can handle is only about 150,000 Han Yang rifles. Anything more than that would exceed Huang's authority. As for the price, I hope it won't be lower than the market price. What do you think, Mr. Ye?"

  "So much, it's a huge sum!" Ye Zuwen feigned surprise. "Huang Liushou, this is a large amount of money! Even if my friend can afford it, he may not be able to sell the goods that quickly, and the financial pressure will be tremendous. You should let me and my friends discuss it."

  Huang Xing also thought it was reasonable: "Mr. Ye, don't worry, but such a big thing still needs to trouble you to keep your mouth shut!"

  Ye Zuwen smiled slightly: "Of course, Ye is a businessman, and he understands this rule."

  。。。。。。

  Ye Zuwen and his son stayed in Wang Zhenyu's hotel room that night.

  "General Wang, I've contacted the Zongshang Party and they're very interested. However, they require the delivery location to be in Lushun. The price is quite reasonable, 80 yuan per unit, totaling 1.5 million units. Payment will be made in two installments: half upon arrival in Shanghai and the other half upon arrival in Lushun." Ye Zuweng whispered to Wang Zhenyu, calculating that it would amount to a total of 12 million yuan.

  Currently, only the Zongshang Party can produce such a large sum of silver at once, and the transaction can be so generous. Of course, this is also because Ye's goods are in extremely large quantities, equivalent to the total production of the Hanyang Arsenal over ten years. How could these kings who aspire to restore the Qing dynasty not be moved by this?

  Compared to the vast lands and rivers of their ancestors, what does a mere 12 million yuan mean? As long as the restoration is successful, silver will be abundant! (Why didn't I think of this earlier?)

  "Where is he now?" Wang Zhenyu asked in a low voice.

  Ye Zuwen: "In Shanghai, with Mr. Du around, safety shouldn't be a problem. However, General Wang, are you sure we won't leave any behind? Such a large batch of military supplies will surely come in handy when you expand your troops in the future."

  Mr. Ye, you don't know this, but although the Nanjing militia claims to have 300,000 men, almost one in four of them doesn't even have a weapon. As for the remaining twenty-odd million guns, the good ones were either allocated by Commander Huang to the Jiangxi faction or kept for himself to build reliable troops.

  Ye Zuwen's mind turned quickly: "Look at this meaning, between north and south..."

  Wang Zhenyu nodded: "This is just the beginning, we still have a long way to go, it's only a matter of time."

  Ye Zuwen thought for a moment and smiled: "Then what are you planning to do, General Wang?"

  Wang Zhenyu smiled and said: "After finishing things here, I will return to Hunan, first occupy a place, observe the situation before making any further moves."

  Ye Zuwen nodded after listening: "Where is Huang Liushou? How can this price be returned?"

  Wang Zhenyu stood up and said, "It doesn't matter, just pay the market price. He gave me a favor, and I'll return it with kindness. It's settled then, the 60 million yuan must be handed over in Shanghai, things are not peaceful on this side of Nanjing."

  Ye Zuwen and Huang Xing reached an agreement, 150,000 rifles, priced at 20 taels of silver each, totaling 3 million. From the initial 200,000 to the final 3 million, Huang Xing couldn't help but excitedly shake Ye Zuwen's hand: "Mr. Ye, I've been stuck in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for several months, only now do I realize that you, Mr. Ye, are the most supportive of the revolution. You have truly helped us out."

  Wang Zhenyu was shocked, and his malicious guess was that if Huang Dada, who had dedicated his life to opposing the Manchu people, knew that this batch of military supplies ultimately sold to the Tartars, what kind of expression would he have?

  Ye Zuwen then bid farewell to Wang Zhenyu and went to Shanghai. After the transaction was completed, he did not return to Nanjing either, but instead took a boat directly back to Wuhan. Before leaving, Ye Guoxuan, who had been very polite, suddenly leaned against Wang Zhenyu's arm, then stuffed an envelope into Wang Zhenyu's hand and smiled slightly awkwardly: "My sister is being naughty, I hope General Wang won't mind."

  Wang Zhenyu and Ye Guoxuan hadn't exchanged more than a few words, but the impression he had of him was quite good, so he naturally nodded and smiled, casually stuffing the letter into his pants pocket.

  Deng Ye Zuweng and others got on the train, Wang Zhenyu finally tore open the seal. Inside was just a piece of paper with ten words written on it: "Big bad egg, remember what I said that day."

  Wang Zhenyu was suddenly delighted, and the image of that strange and clever little girl also appeared in his mind. Maybe this girl is really not bad, Wang Zhenyu thought to himself with a start. As soon as this idea came out, he jumped up in surprise, nervously glancing at Zhao Dongsheng and Ma Xicheng behind him, seeing they were still some distance away from him before calming down, putting the ten-word note away.

  Zhao Dongsheng and Ma Xicheng, who were following behind, exchanged a glance with each other, but they had no idea why the tour guide suddenly burst out laughing.

  Such a large batch of military supplies was to be sent to Shanghai, and Huang Xing couldn't find anyone trustworthy for the time being, so he naturally entrusted the important task to Wang Zhenyu. Wang Zhenyu didn't decline either, after all, he had done it once before, and it was familiar territory. The 9th Regiment took over the defense of the entire Xiaoguan Wharf with the order from the Governor's Office.

  In Shanghai, Du Yuesheng's ability to handle matters was indeed formidable. To avoid any unexpected events during the transaction, Du Yuesheng first informed his master Huang Jinrong and promised a generous fee of 500,000 yuan. Then, using Huang Jinrong's name, he made arrangements with all the major forces in Shanghai. With Huang Jinrong, the biggest underworld boss in Shanghai, involved, and Ye Zuweng visiting Yu Kuizhi, anyone with any influence in Shanghai knew that this deal was not to be touched. In these times, if you wanted to make money, you had to ensure you had a life to spend it with.

  As agreed, Ye Zuwen naturally paid Huang Xing 1.5 million taels of silver first, and as soon as the money was in hand, Huang Xing immediately mobilized his troops to surround various departments, disarm and forcibly disperse them.

  Here, Wang Zixiang's Guangxi army was the first to bear the brunt. Knowing that he could not escape, Wang Zixiang finally handed over 30,000 yuan to Wang Zhenyu and handed over his engineering battalion intact to Wang Zhenyu. Except for the battalion commander himself who resigned, Wang Zhenyu did not change anything else and even paid back wages in arrears. At the same time, Wang Zhenyu appointed Hu Li, the original captain of the first company of the engineering battalion, as the lieutenant colonel battalion commander.

  Successfully solved the most complete Guangxi Army, next, Huang Xing began to strongly disperse other troops. The whole Nanjing suddenly became deserted, and Wang Zhenyu's opportunity came. Under Huang Xing's tacit consent, he took over the dispersed troops together with their equipment. The principle was also very clear: soldiers over 25 years old were not wanted, officers above the rank of lieutenant were not wanted. Those who could read more than a hundred characters were given priority in recruitment, and once recruited, they would be paid three months' military salary as a settlement fee.

  As soon as the news came out, many soldiers who did not want to return home to farm flocked to Nanjing No. 2 Middle School to join the Ninth Brigade. The officer in charge of recruitment laughed and said, "Okay, if you can write a hundred words or carry a hundred kilograms of rice bags around the training ground for one circle, I'll take you." Suddenly, the training ground was bustling again.

  The elite troops selected from the dispersed militia quickly filled the three infantry regiments, and the tailoring shops and shoe stores in Nanjing also did a booming business. Each person had two sets of blue-gray new military uniforms, plus three sets of four-cornered underwear, two vests, two white-lined shirts, and two pairs of cloth shoes. The officers at the Ninth Brigade's logistics department were extremely busy during this period, working overtime to rush orders, take measurements, and place orders, almost running around non-stop.

  The infantry regiment was organized according to the principle of three, so the original company naturally upgraded and expanded into a battalion, and the original platoon also upgraded and expanded into a company. Tao Yueliang and others were promoted to lieutenant colonel battalion commander, and the ninth brigade suddenly had several lieutenant colonels. The 96 soldiers in the training team, except for Yu Zuobai and nine others who stayed in the training team as instructors, were assigned to the newly formed infantry companies (27 in total), special companies, reconnaissance companies as platoon leaders. Song Haomin was only 17 years old and served as the captain of the training team, with a temporary rank of upper lieutenant.

  In addition, Wang Zhenyu, for some reason, adopted a policy of absorbing similar technical troops such as engineers and artillerymen into the army with their original ranks intact. As long as an officer had professional knowledge, they were retained in their original position. Very quickly, a whole engineer battalion and a divisional artillery company (40 men, without big guns) were formed. The 9th Brigade suddenly expanded to over 3,900 men, and because the reinforcements were all seasoned veterans, its combat effectiveness actually increased rather than decreased.

  The Garrison left one eye open and closed the other, firstly because they themselves were doing the same thing, weren't the 8th and 9th Divisions formed in this way? Secondly, they really didn't have the money to pay off the back wages of these disbanded soldiers, so someone taking the initiative to deal with some of it was just what they needed; thirdly, it was Huang Xing's special care, but that's not worth mentioning.

  Nanjing was bustling, and Shanghai didn't stop either. As soon as the crowd was forcibly dispersed, weapons came out immediately. Huang Xing and Li Shucheng ordered that except for selecting good ones to equip the newly formed two divisions and sending them to Jiangxi Li Liejun, the rest would be sent to the Ninth Brigade's management at Xiaguan Wharf. Wang Zhenyu didn't say much, just letting Yang Wanguo lead the officers and soldiers of the Ninth Brigade to supervise the dockworkers in loading the ships immediately. On March 12th, a total of 1.5 million various rifles and some ammunition were transported to Shanghai through five British cargo ships of 400 tons each. The person sent by the Zongshang Party came on board to inspect the goods, and indeed they were genuine. Overjoyed, he didn't forget to say to Ye Zuwen: "Mr. Ye, your contribution will be remembered by our king, and the remaining payment will be credited to your account once these five ships arrive at Lushun Port. Our king is a man of his word, please rest assured."

  As for Du Yuesheng, who was responsible for the safety of this transaction, although he only got 400,000 in the end, with the huge reputation and face generated by the success of this transaction, Du Yuesheng is now considered to be on the stage in Shanghai. With money in hand, there are naturally people under his feet, and with people, there is naturally momentum. It's estimated that from now on, everyone will have to politely call him Boss Du when they see him.

  Thinking of this, Du Yuesheng, who was in a great mood, cupped his hands and said to Ye Zuwu: "Mr. Ye, please go back and tell my third brother that I will not be polite and take the 900,000 taels of silver. The things behind this, let me, the second brother, handle it. You haven't seen the money, I won't let the British deliver the goods, you can let him rest assured."

  Ye Zuwen also smiled and replied, saying that what Mr. Du said he would definitely bring back.

  In Beijing, Yuan Shikai vaguely learned that the revolutionary party was selling guns for money and dispersing troops here. Although he was very dissatisfied with the way the revolutionary party handled such a large amount of military supplies, at this time, Yuan Guang himself was being bothered by the six-nation banking group that had lent him money to deal with the aftermath, as well as his own army's demands for wages, and he simply didn't have the energy to worry about anything else. Moreover, it was always good to be able to disperse the enemy's troops, at least it was beneficial to himself, and one couldn't expect everything to be perfect. Having thought this through, Yuan Shikai not only didn't mention the military supplies, but also telegraphed to praise Huang Xing, although he wasn't a kind person either, he still instructed Zhao Bingjun and others to strictly investigate the final destination of the military supplies.

  Due to Du Yuesheng's tight lips, after the incident Zhao Bingjun only managed to investigate up to Ye Zuwen and was unable to dig out Wang Zhenyu this little fox.

  On March 20, the remaining $6 million was paid to HSBC. However, these weapons ultimately did not fall into the hands of the Constitutional Party, which had paid a high price for them. It is said that they were intercepted by General Zhang Zuolin of the 27th Division of the Army stationed in Fengtian shortly after leaving Dalian, and Zhang Zuolin made a fortune out of thin air. He was later commended by Yuan Shikai. As for who leaked the information, it was revealed many years later that it was none other than Li himself, who had been relied upon by the Constitutional Party.

  As a result, in this underground arms deal that could be called the largest scale in the first year of the Republic of China, Huang Xing, Wang Zhenyu, and Zhang Zuolin all benefited, but only the Imperial Party was left with nothing. The kings who lost money and gained nothing could only sigh and blame each other.

  Volume 1: The Hero of Xīn Hài Comes to an End...