Chapter 75: Procurement (Part 2)

“A whole ship’s worth of dyes?”
Craig was stunned this time. “A whole ship’s worth of picric acid?”
Although Xiliuying had ordered about twelve thousand sets of clothing fabric from Haiyang, such military uniforms didn’t require that much dye—one ship’s worth of dye would likely be enough for hundred thousand sets.
Liu Yu was also surprised. “One ship isn’t enough? Then let’s order two ships of picric acid—just decide that.”
Seeing Liu Yu so enthusiastic, Craig didn’t disturb him, though he thought the young man was still too inexperienced. “Two ships it is, no problem.”
Upon further thought, whatever goods Liu Yu imported had to go through the Haiyang branch first. Besides, buying picric acid was better than buying two ships of nitric acid—at least if Liu Yu had bought two ships of nitric acid, Craig would have had to stop it.
But he had underestimated Xiliuying’s procurement volume. Already, Xiliuying had specified the quantity: “One hundred tons of picric acid, to be delivered within a year.”
That wasn’t even two ships! Craig knew that steamships capable of reaching Shanxi generally had shallow drafts and couldn’t carry fifty tons of cargo. It would likely require transferring the goods to Hanoi using smaller steamboats.
Could it be that Xiliuying was planning to smuggle weapons under the guise of picric acid? He had such a thought.
But he quickly shook his head. That was impossible. No foreign firm in Haiyang would dare undertake such a deal. It took three firms working together to reach this agreement, and their supplies were right under their noses.
One hundred tons of picric acid—how much fabric could that dye? Craig wondered if Xiliuying was planning to build a large garment factory. He had heard that Liu Yu owned a top military uniform factory in Northern Vietnam, employing over a hundred female workers alone.
The inventory in Haiyang City probably didn’t even reach five hundred pounds. They would likely still have to import goods from Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Yet, at the thought of Xiliuying spending money on civilian goods, Craig couldn’t help but feel pleased for France’s interests. They imported only a small amount of sulfuric acid and nitric acid but spent a large amount of money on dyes—good news indeed.
He also felt a bit more disdain for the young Liu Yu. “Too young. Relying solely on his father’s favor—won’t amount to much.”
For the foreign firms in Haiyang Port, especially the French ones, it was an extremely fortunate day. Lord Liu Yu of Xiliuying seemed to treat money as nothing. He placed orders worth six or seven hundred thousand francs in a single day, with some even estimating the total to reach one million francs.
All orders came with his signed drafts, guaranteed by both the Black Flag Bank and the Oriental Bank. With those drafts, one could borrow money from the Oriental Bank’s Haiyang branch at extremely favorable interest rates.
All orders were required to be completed within a year. Aside from some military-related materials, most were civilian products such as fabric, dyes, shoes, and so on.
Craig had so much money he didn’t know what to do with it. Sellers and buyers alike were affected—all these orders had to go through his bank. It could even be said that without the support of the Haiyang branch, none of these orders would exist.

He even found that his plan to accumulate 100,000 francs at the Haifang branch seemed achievable sooner than expected, and he was reluctant to leave this position. Unfortunately, there was still some regret—after personally finalizing the deal for 100 tons of picric acid, Liu Yu decided to go to Hong Kong to make more purchases, as Haifang couldn’t compare to Hong Kong in terms of supplies, and the Oriental Bank of Commerce couldn’t compare to HSBC. However, after some negotiation, Craig wasn’t entirely without gains; at least Liu Yu agreed that the Hong Kong transaction could use Oriental Bank of Commerce’s bills, for which Craig specially granted a credit line of 1 million francs. He knew this was a clear violation of regulations and far exceeded the authority granted to the Haifang branch by the head office, but he felt the risk was worth taking, especially since Xiliuying also needed to contribute their gold. Heading north by boat, crossing the picturesque Beibu Gulf, Liu Yu boarded a passenger and cargo vessel flying the British flag. Along the way, only British ships kept sounding their horns in greeting, while ships from the Guangdong and Nanyang navies stayed well away. With the sea breeze blowing and colorful flags fluttering, it was the best of times for the British—they could dominate China’s coast without restraint. This golden route was extremely busy, with all kinds of ships coming and going; every few minutes, another cargo ship appeared. Some carried various industrial goods, some exported Chinese agricultural products, and others carried prohibited items that only foreigners could handle—arms and opium. Since the two Opium Wars, opium trade had been legalized in China, with crates of opium imported from India and French colonies, leading to a massive outflow of silver from China. Arms trade was another unique product of this era in Hong Kong. Hong Kong once set a record of selling 80,000 rifles in a month. In the countries of the Far East, most people purchased arms in Hong Kong, either by importing them directly from local firms or by going abroad to negotiate large-scale deals. Unlike Vietnam, where there were strict arms controls, here, as long as you had money, you could buy any kind of arms—ranging from old-fashioned muzzle-loading rifles to the latest Mauser, Remington, Krupp field guns,Griffin machine guns, and various types of gunpowder, bullets, and shells. Even old warships could be bought in this arms market. With enough money, you could acquire weapons enough to arm 20,000 soldiers in a short time, at prices even more favorable than those offered by firms on the mainland. Of course, the only challenge was transporting them back to the mainland, which required official passports. This led to the emergence of many intermediaries who specialized in this business. But Liu Yu had already discussed it with Desmond—if they needed to buy arms, they could go straight to him. The Hong Kong before him was not yet the Pearl of the Orient, nor was it the small fishing village of the past. What Liu Yu saw was a bustling but chaotic large fishing port. Hong Kong—a port that welcomed all the wealthy. Unlike Shanghai, which was a haven for adventurers, it welcomed powerful individuals even more.

The colonial atmosphere here is very strong; you can see many British-style buildings. However, at that time, HSBC’s famous bank building wouldn’t be completed until 1886. What Liu Yu sees now is precisely such a blend of Eastern and Western elements. Jiang Ningxue was clearly stunned by this beautiful scene. In her eyes, Haifang was the greatest port, but what lay before her was a colonial city a hundred times more prosperous than Haifang. Chinese, French, British, Germans, Poles, Russians… countless people gathered here, all driven by profit. The latest high-rise buildings coexisted with the oldest huts in the same city, and people always watched each other with suspicion. Jiang Ningxue couldn’t help but say, “It’s so magnificent! If I hadn’t come here, I really wouldn’t have known how vast the world is…” Over there, the British pilot had already guided the passenger ship Liu Yu was on to shore, while Liu Yu’s partner, the Dutchman Desmond, was waving his top hat and wearing a tuxedo to greet him, “Liu! Over here!” “Dear Monsieur Desmond!” “Monsieur Liu!” Upon meeting, they exchanged warm hugs. Desmond was extremely enthusiastic about Liu Yu’s team, which helped him make profits: “What do you need? From cannons to pistols, this city has it all.” Liu Yu said helplessly, “I can’t take them back! But I’ve obtained a license.” “How many?” Desmond asked. “I’ll prepare them right away.” “It cost three thousand francs to get it—allowing me to import two hundred Remington rifles and twenty revolvers.” This was something Liu Yu had managed through Huang Zuoyan’s connections, but even this amount was far from enough. Desmond smiled and said, “I’ll load them up immediately. I’ve prepared some good stuff for you. By the way, besides arms, what else do you need? Oh, and don’t pay in francs.” Desmond was also a major shareholder of the Black Flag Bank and a key figure in counterfeit franc production. Later, the French would list him as one of the four major threats in North Vietnam. He knew very well what kind of francs Liu Yu brought, but Liu Yu smiled and said, “I’ll send you franc bank drafts from the Oriental Bank of Commerce. How you exchange them for HSBC francs is your problem.” “No problem!” Desmond led Liu Yu onto shore. “I’ll treat you and Madam Jiang to a welcome meal.” Jiang Ningxue was also very curious about this city. The sea breeze swept through the city, filling it with a maritime scent. It was noisy and chaotic, with the stench of money everywhere and capital’s influence permeating everything. Strange advertisements could be seen everywhere, promoting imported goods with extremely miraculous effects. These goods all had standard yet peculiar foreign names, and from time to time, there were images of women who were extremely avant-garde for that era but seemed extremely conservative and ugly in Liu Yu’s eyes. It was chaotic yet orderly. The native Chinese didn’t need to maintain order, and on the same street, British restaurants and Chinese restaurants competed with each other. Long wires hung across the street, and various voices engaged in transactions.

Everyone gave Liu Yu and his group some space; a capable manager from a foreign firm was needed to welcome and entertain them. Seeing the size of the group, even thieves knew it was better not to mess with them.
“What do you need? In Hong Kong, there’s nothing I can’t buy.”
Liu Yu was also thinking about this. He suddenly glanced at the wires and asked, “Can we get this?”
“What? Oh, this?”
“A telegraph machine!”
Desmond shook his head and said, “Dear Liu, you’ve got it wrong!”