Zou Tingbi said easily, but Zhao Bei hesitated for a moment.

500,000 now the ocean took the risk to go around the field, in exchange for 20,000 catties of sulfur and saltpeter urgently needed by the arsenal, this deal is not very cost-effective, sulfur and saltpeter can not be sold so expensive, but now the market can not buy sulfur at all, Chilean saltpeter is even more priceless, without these raw materials, sulfuric acid, nitric acid can not be made, then Huo yao can not be made.

"How much brimstone and saltpeter can you get?" Zhao Bei asked.

"Contemptible people have been compradors for many years, and there are many connections between foreign businessmen, and when they walk, the commander-in-chief can have as many as he wants." Zou Tingbi patted his chest and said.

"Okay, I have a buyer in Shanghai, you first take a telegram to those foreign businessmen in Shanghai, see if you can procure, if you can, I will save your bank." In addition, you can see if you can go away from the relationship between foreigners, find a bankrupt foreign businessman, hang his sign to set up a foreign company in the Shanghai Concession, this is a leather bag company, on the surface the foreigner is the boss, but in fact the treasurer is sent by the Republican Army. ”

Zhao Bei doesn't see rabbits and eagles, and has been a salesman for several years, and his vigilance is not covered. Now that the great powers are engaged in "armed neutrality" and refuse to sell weapons and raw materials for the manufacture of weapons to the warring parties, if Zou Tingbi can get enough sulfur and saltpeter, it is enough to prove his ability and popularity, then it can be regarded as a good investment target.

"This ...... I can try. The German and French consuls in Shanghai had some friendship with me, and I might be able to walk there. Zou Tingbi hesitated for a while, but finally agreed, and was thinking about how many connections could be used, but the carriage stopped, Tian Jinfu glanced out, and said, "Commander-in-chief, we have arrived." ”

Tian Jinfu jumped out of the car, Zhao Beiyi stretched out his hand, closed the car door again, and asked Zou Tingbi: "How much capital does your bank have?" ”

Zou Tingbi smiled bitterly: "Xincheng is a small bank, and the capital is not much, a total of less than one million taels of flat silver. ”

Zhao Bei groaned: "It's indeed a small bank. However, wasn't Citibank also a small bank? If you can help me buy enough raw materials for the armament, I don't mind investing another 1 million taels of silver. ”

"The Commander-in-Chief wants to take a stake?" Zou Tingbi was a little surprised, Xincheng Bank not only has his shares, but also several businessmen's shares, if Zhao Bei becomes a shareholder like this, he will become the bank's biggest antique, and the control in the future will be in the hands of Zhao Bei, and this is not what Zou Tingbi wants to see.

Zhao Bei saw that Zou Tingbi's face was embarrassed, and after thinking about it for a while, he knew his thoughts, so he said: "Don't worry, I won't occupy your bank, even if I buy shares, I will only hold 40% of the shares at most." ”

At present, the republican military government does not have its own bank, but Hubei has an official money bureau, but the smell of the money village is too strong, and it is still far from the bank, as for the household department "Daqing Bank", it is simply a yamen, and it is not as good as the money village for raising idlers, not to mention that the head office is not in Wuhan, and it is not Zhao Bei's turn to intervene, and the newly established Bank of Communications is the forbidden side of the Beiyang Group, so there is no need to think about it. Zhao Bei once wanted to set up a bank, but he couldn't find a talent who was proficient in finance, although the bank was small, but after all, it had been in operation for two years, and it could still issue banknotes.

Zou Tingbi pondered in his heart for a moment, and felt that this deal could be considered, but he had to wait for the news from Tianjin that if Yuan Shikai was willing to save his bank, he would have the capital to bargain.

"The commander-in-chief just said that he has something to say to Zou, is this what he wants?" Zou Tingbi didn't say yes.

Zhao Bei smiled and said: "This matter is also my temporary idea, I originally wanted to invite Mr. Zou to invest in Hubei to set up a factory, I don't know what Mr. Zou thinks?" ”

Zou Tingbi was slightly stunned, and then smiled: "It's easy to say, it's easy to say." As long as the situation stabilizes, Zou will definitely go to Hubei Province to set up a factory. I heard that the commander-in-chief took over the fourth bureau of gauze and linen? If the commander-in-chief is willing to sell the factory, the contemptible can take over. ”

Hubei gauze and linen silk four bureau is Zhang Zhidong when the governor of Hubei another foreign achievements, this is a large textile factory, and Hanyang Iron and Steel Plant, at the beginning is also the government, yarn, cloth, linen, silk four branches, later because of the bloated organization, unable to make ends meet, had to change to "official supervision and business office", that is, contracted to private management, Guangdong businessman Wei Zifeng came forward to set up Yingchang company, the four bureaus were rented, the contract lasted for 20 years, until now it has only been in operation for six years, the republican army killed, Zhao Bei immediately took over the factory, sent people to check the accountsI was going to use this as an excuse to renew the contract, earn some rent to maintain the army, or simply sell the factory, but Wei Zifeng and others ran back to Guangdong to "hide from bandits" before the revolutionary army arrived, and they couldn't get in touch for a while, so at present, the four bureaus have not yet started, and the fabrics stored in the factory have been moved to the military clothing factory.

At that time, Huguang, the governor of Zhangzhidong, not only set up an arsenal, but also set up a lot of civilian industries, but the main purpose of his civilian industries was to make up for the deficit of the iron and steel plant.

After the establishment of the Hubei Military Government, it took over all these civilian enterprises, checked their accounts, sorted out their debts, and prepared to hand them over to the private sector to operate and withdraw cash to maintain the operation of the government, which was also an important part of the province's financial clean-up work.

But it takes time to cash out this kind of money.

Now the situation has not been completely stabilized, investing in these factories is not like renting and buying government land, this kind of industrial investment not only requires a large amount of money, but also has certain requirements for technical strength, how to compete with foreign goods is also a science, so now there are not many businessmen who dare to immediately take over these enterprises, one of the results of the lack of competitors is that these factories can not be sold at a good price, Zhao Bei has not yet made up his mind, whether to sell or contract, he wants to sell after the situation is completely stable, so that he can sell at a good price.

Since Zou Tingbi expressed interest, Zhao Bei will naturally not let go of this opportunity, although Zou enterprises are currently difficult in capital turnover, but it does not mean that they cannot cooperate, compared to Hubei businessmen, Jiangsu businessmen's economic strength is stronger, more importantly, the Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial group behind them has a stronger force, and the horizon is broader, even if Zou Tingbi can not take over, he can also set an example for Jiangsu and Zhejiang Group, as long as Jiangsu and Zhejiang financial groups are involved in Hubei industry, then, The business community in the entire Southeast could be a strong support for the IRA, and that support was not just financial.

Revolution is the redistribution of the cake of wealth, when people who want to eat this cake are calling for the commander-in-chief, when is the time for Zhao Bei to pick up the big knife and draw on this cake, at that time, how to divide it, how to divide it, will be decided by him.

"If Mr. Zou can afford the price, the four games may not be able to sell to you. But now I have something to do, so let's talk about it at another time. This is my special business card, if you want to tell me something, you can take this business card directly to the current affairs propaganda committee, and they will arrange it. ”

Zhao Bei handed over a business card, changed the conversation, and asked, "You just said that you have a friendship with the German consul in Shanghai, is this true?" ”

Zou Tingbi nodded and said, "Speaking of which, the banknotes issued by the Contemptible Bank were printed in Germany, and it was the German consul who helped to pull the strings. ”

"Oh? Can you bring a personal letter to the German consul in Shanghai? Zhao Bei's interest was raised.

He has long wanted to establish some kind of "friendship" with the German side, but he has not been able to find a way, the German consul in Hankou is a conservative and rigid Junker aristocrat, meticulous in handling things, loyal to his duties, but also there is no room for accommodation, saying that if he insists on "neutrality", he is not the kind of person who adapts to the situation at all, in the Chinese saying, it is an elm pimple, but those German ** fire merchants are much more "friendly", and they sell a lot of old guns to the military government together with Italian profiteers, Of the more than 70,000 breech-loading guns that the Republican Army now has, at least 5,000 are sold by these arms brokers, and although they are not as advanced as the tens of thousands of rifles they have captured, they are at least much better than the cowboy guns sold by American profiteers.

"What does the commander-in-chief mean?" Zou Tingbi didn't quite understand what Zhao Bei wanted to do, and regretted that what he said just now was too full, but in fact, the German consul in Shanghai had a general personal relationship with him, purely business contacts, and they only used each other, not any friends.

Zhao Bei said: "Actually, it's nothing, now the revolutionary cause is in full swing, the peace talks between the north and the south are about to begin, we have to have good relations with the foreign powers, Germany is a newly rising power, I want to explain some of the ideas of our republican army to the German side." It's a pity that the German consul in Hankou is a granite head, and he can't talk directly with him, and he wants to contact the German minister in China, but there is no way, otherwise, he won't trouble Mr. Zou. ”

Zou Tingbi breathed a sigh of relief and said busily: "This is easy to do, the commander-in-chief sent someone to deliver the letter, and I will go to Shanghai after I go back and forward the letter to the German consul." But the contempt was only a small businessman, and his face was not big, and the German consul might not reply to the letter. ”

He didn't dare to say anything more. The revolutionary army is rising, Yuan Shikai rebelled, where China will go in the future, no one dares to guarantee the vote, all countries are waiting and seeing, no one knows what the Germans have in mind, and Yuan Shikai occupies the name of "center", which seems to be a better investment object for foreign ministers.

Zhao Bei patted Zou Tingbi's shoulder and said: "Some things, as long as you do your best, no matter what the result is, you will never regret it too much, the so-called 'planning is in the people, success is in the sky', as long as Mr. Zou does his best, Zhao is still grateful, we are doing revolution, we are betting everywhere, even if we don't win, but once the bet is won, it will be a lot of gain." By the way, that letter is very important, I will send an adjutant to carry it personally and accompany you to Shanghai, so as not to make any mistakes, and Mr. Zou also needs to keep this matter strictly confidential, this is a military secret. ”

Zou Tingbi hurriedly agreed, this arrangement is the best, lest he have too much to bear.

Zhao Bei encouraged Zou Tingbi to say a few more words, then pushed the car door and jumped out of the car, and walked towards Chu Wangtai with the guards.

Zou Tingbi was sitting in the car, still thinking about the matter of buying a stake in the bank, and did not tell the coachman to catch the car, but when he was pondering, he heard bursts of cheers outside, so he sent the servant to inquire.

After a while, the servant hurried back and said, "Sir, it is the commander-in-chief who is cutting the ribbon at the military hospital, and the applause is all wounded soldiers. The current Chuwangtai is already the rear military hospital of the Republican Army, and there are more than 1,000 wounded and sick people, and the houses are neat and tidy, all painted with ashes, which is much stronger than the sick shed of the patrol battalion. ”

"I see." Zou Tingbi was stunned. "The commander-in-chief is a considerate person, no wonder the soldiers use their lives."

"That's, thoughtful." The servant sighed and praised. "It's not the old soldiers who are waiting for the wounded, but the female nurses."

"Nurse woman?" Zou Tingbi was slightly stunned. "What female nurse?"

"The female nurse is a group of big girls and little daughters-in-law, dressed in white, with a white hat pinned to her hair, speaking softly, her hands are tender, like green onions, look at it a few times, and the wound will heal faster." The servant said while gesturing, and after explaining for a long time, Zou Tingbi figured out what was going on.

This Chuwangtai warehouse was originally the arsenal of the Hubei New Army, before the Republican Army arrived in Wuhan, the munitions in it were moved away by the Qing officials, and there was an arsenal, Chuwangtai was vacated, after Wuhan was recovered, those munitions were not moved back, Chuwangtai was rebuilt into a military hospital by Zhaobei, specializing in the treatment of the wounded and sick numbers, and the beds were known as thousands, as for those "female nurses", it was the precedent of the times, not only the mainland was the first, it was placed in the southeast coastal area, it was also called unprecedented, Chinese women in this era, The emphasis is on not going out of the door, staying at home as a female worker is serious, if there is nothing to do, no one will show up, even the female workers in the yarn factory rarely go out of the factory, if you want to call the women of this era to be nurses, to the wounded soldiers to take feces and urine, wipe their bodies and sweat, it is difficult and difficult.

Where can you find so many female nurses? Zhao Bei has a way.

Those female nurses are banner women, most of them are still the female dependents of the Jingzhou garrison Eight Banner Battalion, since the flag salary was stopped, the flag people have no income, they are miserable, the men are beggars, the women are reduced to the green building, and they are not desolate for a while, as a result, Zhao Bei sent people to Jingzhou to post a notice, and more than 500 young women were recruited in just a few days, although the notice is clear, it is to go to the military hospital to serve men, but it is always good to go to the Qinglou to laugh, and now the flag people's world is about to end, the flag salary can not be counted on, if you want not to starve to death, This face can not be taken care of, besides, female nurses can eat and live, and can also get two oceans of salary every month, which can always subsidize some families, so this group of banner women came to Wuchang, and under the guidance of the military medical officers and nuns sent by Zhao Bei, they learned simple nursing and disinfection knowledge, and then put on white coats and became the first batch of professional female nurses in Chinese mainland.

As soon as the female nurse appeared, she immediately changed the lifeless and dark atmosphere of the military hospital, greatly improved the morale of the wounded soldiers, and the seriously wounded had a stronger courage to live, and they were more grateful to the commander-in-chief.

Zou Tingbi came back to his senses, stroked his short beard, and sighed: "This commander-in-chief really dares to think and dare to do, no wonder he can command one side." Blatantly letting a young woman serve a strange man must make those old masters and Taoist gentlemen angry to death. ”