Chapter 722 A new deal
The railroad linking the Qing Consortium and the Northwest was still under construction, but the trade between them had already started.
When Qing Zhen appointed the person to take charge of this matter, he did not consider anyone but Xu Man. Only he was the most suitable candidate for the job.
It had to be known that Xu Man oversaw the growth of the bandit forces in the valley, and it could be said that many of Qing Zhen’s plans had always been executed perfectly whenever he handled them.
In the Qing Consortium, it would not be enough if it were only Qing Zhen alone who had to deal with this chaotic world. His farsightedness still required strong executioners.
Therefore, Xu Man could be said to be the Qing Consortium’s principal person who oversaw their Northwestern strategy.
One of the more important matters in recent days was that Wang Fugui had brought back with him a group of merchants from the Central Plains. The amount of goods he hauled back to the Northwest made the other merchants extremely envious.
One of Xu Man’s subordinates suggested they make contact with Wang Fugui and groom him to become an agent of the Qing Consortium.
However, Xu Man rejected the suggestion with an astounded expression. Others might not know about Wang Fugui, but how could he not know? That was not someone he could nurture.
Another important thing was that a batch of fur hides had suddenly appeared in the market.
Logically speaking, it was just a bunch of fur hides and not some strategic resources that appeared, so it should not have raised any concerns.
But Xu Man still personally made a trip over. When he saw the corsac fox fur hides, he immediately realized these goods must have come from the steppe.
NO
When normal people heard about the steppe, they would only get reminded of groups of nomadic tribes and barbarians. However, Xu Man deeply understood Qing Zhen’s concerns. The steppe meant a great deal to the Qing Consortium.
Just like how Wang Shengzhi had specially made a trip to the Northwest to persuade Zhang Jinglin to help him suppress the Qing Consortium, Qing Zhen needed someone to suppress the Wang Consortium! Although the steppe was thousands of kilometers away from the Qing Consortium, the nomadic tribes there could get to the Wang Consortium immediately by passing through Stronghold 176.
If such geography were consolidated, it would create the same banditry situation as the valley that had annoyed the Yang Consortium back then, and annoy the Wang Consortium as well.
Just as Xu Man had said, Zhang Jinglin would definitely not allow something like that. That was because too many people would die if it ever happened.
But Qing Zhen had always been an unscrupulous person. The only people he wanted to protect were the Qing Consortium’s people in the Southwest. The lives of others had nothing to do with him.
Therefore, Xu Man found and approached Su Lei instead. He wanted to send firearms to the steppe to help one of the major powers there consolidate the territory!
Xu Man got straight to the point. “The business you’re running now is too small. I also know full well that you aren’t satisfied with just reselling some daily necessities. However, you definitely can’t get any help from Fortress 178, so you can only rely on us.” “Where exactly are you from?” Su Lei asked hesitantly.
“It’s not difficult to guess.” Xu Man said with a smile, “If you can’t even guess that, I might have to find someone smarter to work with.”
“The Qing Consortium?” Su Lei asked. To be honest, he really did not expect the Qing Consortium would approach him.
Xu Man smiled and said, “Where did you guys do the deal?”
Su Lei hesitated. He was a little worried that if he told Xu Man about this, the other party would bypass him and directly make a deal with that young man from the grasslands.
Xu Man’s smile got even wider. “What? Are you afraid I’ll steal away your business? Forget it then. Just pretend that I didn’t look for you today.”
However, when Su Lei thought about it again, Qing Zhen’s name was well-known throughout the Southwest and Northwest. He would definitely not do something meaningless. So why was the Qing Consortium trying to help the nomads in the Northern Plains? They must definitely be plotting something. Now that Xu Man had secretly approached him, the Qing Consortium’s plan was definitely not supposed to be found out by anyone else. In fact, the plan should not even be headed by someone from the Qing Consortium. What they needed was an agent!
Su Lei said, “It’s right next to the Shenmu River. It’s almost time for the deal to happen. You may send someone to tag along with me for this first transaction.”
Xu Man patted Su Lei on the shoulder. “You’re truly a smart person. Don’t worry, I’ll send five platoons with you this time. There won’t be a need for that again in the subsequent deals. Once the first transaction is completed, you’ll become a lieutenant in our Qing Consortium. If you ever want to retire someday, you can come to the Qing Consortium to live out your retirement. We can offer you a path to take a step back towards. But if you get discovered, killed, or captured during the deal, we won’t acknowledge that you’re our people. However, we’ll definitely try to save you. I’m sure you’ve heard of our Qing Consortium’s reputation before. We never let down those who’ve worked hard for us.”
These words made Su Lei a little happy. Just as Xu Man had said, the Qing Consortium’s reputation was not only that of Qing Zhen’s great wisdom, but also how well treated the Qing Consortium’s soldiers were, how united they were, and how greatly Qing Zhen empathized with his subordinates.
Didn’t the Qing Consortium and the Pyro Company have a conflict years ago over the Pyro Company’s capture of Qing Zhen’s people?
Now that he had gotten Xu Man’s commitment, it was equivalent to having another way out in the future.
When Xu Man saw Su Lei’s expression, he already knew the outcome. He got up to leave. “Alright, pack your things and follow me to collect the firearms. After that, we’ll head to the Shenmu River as soon as possible to complete the transaction.”
Seven days later, Su Lei and the others quietly arrived on the bank of the Shenmu River. They waited quietly for that young man to arrive. But even after a day had passed, they still did not see anyone coming. By the riverbank, Su Lei had gained an additional few large cargo trucks since the last time he was here. Meanwhile, Xu Man was standing behind him and would be observing the transaction as Su Lei’s subordinate this time.
Xu Man asked, “Why aren’t they here yet?”
“The nomads might not have a good sense of time, or they could have been delayed by something important.” Su Lei said, “They also arrived two days late the previous time.”
As they were talking, the sound of horse hooves clopping came from the frozen surface of the Shenmu River. Xu Man turned around and looked into the fog. He saw a group of people gradually come into focus.
Hassan spurred his horse to the front of the group. He greeted Su Lei from afar, “Friend, I’m sorry that I’m late. My master sends his apologies.”
Su Lei smiled and said, “It’s fine. As long as it doesn’t affect your master’s business, I won’t mind even if I have to wait another month. But where’s your master?”
“My master has more important matters to deal with, so I’ll be the one doing business with you from now on.” As Hassan spoke, he looked at the people behind Su Lei and suddenly turned wary. “Brother Su Lei, these people weren’t here during the previous deal.”
Su Lei explained with a smile, “These are the new subordinates that I’ve recruited. Furthermore, I’ve got a huge surprise for you this time. The things that your master wanted most, I’ve brought them!”
Hassan muttered, “Brother Su Lei, look at you. You’re getting so excited just because you’ve brought some cabbages?” Su Lei stiffened. “I’m not talking about cabbages!”
He gave a wave of his hand and had Cui Qiang bring out an automatic rifle. Cui Qiang pulled back the charging handle on the rifle and fired it into the sky. The hot shell casing landed on the surface of the ice and burned through it.
Cui Qiang handed the rifle in his hand to Hassan, who looked at the heavy gun happily. “My master said that you would definitely bring him a surprise. I didn’t expect it to be true.”