Chapter 35: This Is Hard

How do we learn?

"We trade with our technology." Chen Feng's eyes flashed, "The Leopard's steam turbine layout is more advanced than the Westphalia class, and its fuel‑boiler efficiency is higher. With these non‑core yet enticing technologies, we can exchange for the truly valuable stuff they have."

Wang Bo smiled knowingly, "Young Master, you're trying to get a white wolf with empty hands."

"No," Chen Feng shook his head, "It's technology for technology, a fair trade. It's just… we know what's truly valuable; they might not."

Outside, the setting sun began to sink, turning the Persian Gulf's surface golden.

The long day was about to end.

But Lanfang's advance had only just begun.

Singapore, Raffles Hotel suite.

Wang Wenwu stood on the balcony, a glass of ice water in hand, watching the bustling crowd on the street below. This Yingguo's most important colonial city in the Far East was just at the moment when the lanterns were first lit.

But he had no mood to enjoy the night view.

In the suite's living room, three telephones rang one after another. Three assistants answered calls from around the world in English, French, and German, quickly taking notes and then handing them to Wang Wenwu for review.

"Boss, a call from Sydney," one assistant handed over a note, "BHP agreed to sell five‑year mining rights for two mines in the Pilbara region, but demands a thirty percent prepayment, all to be settled in pounds sterling."

Wang Wenwu glanced at the price: "Agree to them. But add a clause: if export is interrupted for political reasons, they must compensate us three times the prepayment."

"Will they… agree?"

"They will." Wang Wenwu sneered, "The Yingguo are short on money for warships, and mining companies are eager to cash in. Go negotiate, be hard‑line."

Just as one assistant left, another arrived.

"The Chilean nitrate company called back. They are willing to sell a 49% stake in the No. 3 mine in the Atacama Desert, but demand that we provide mining equipment and technical support."

"We don't want equity; we want a long‑term supply contract." Wang Wenwu instructed quickly, "Tell them Lanfang Trading Company can sign a ten‑year contract, purchasing 50,000 tonnes of nitrate each year at market‑linked prices, but we must have priority purchase rights."

"And the equipment and technology…"

"We can give them." Wang Wenwu thought for a moment, "Buy second‑hand mining equipment from Deguo, resell it to them, and keep the margin. Send two engineers for technical support—recruit from recent immigrants with mining experience."

"Understood."

The third assistant waited until the first two left before approaching, his voice very low:

"Boss, someone from the Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co. wants to see you. They say… they have special channels to obtain precision machine tools, including five‑axis CNC milling machines that Deguo bans from export."

Wang Wenwu spun around sharply, "Japanese? How did they know we need this?"

"Unclear. But the visitor presented a letter of introduction from a Kobe machine factory, appearing to be a legitimate merchant."

"No." Wang Wenwu shook his head decisively, "Tell the front desk I'm not here. Also, notify all our procurement agents in Japan to suspend all transactions, awaiting my further instructions."

The assistant was a bit puzzled, "Boss, the five‑axis milling machine is something we urgently need; if the Japanese can provide…"

"Anything the Japanese provide, the price is written where you can't see it." Wang Wenwu walked to the liquor cabinet, poured half a glass of whisky and downed it in one gulp, "They now roam like hungry wolves looking for the source of the Dauntless ship, suddenly approaching us—never a good sign."

He set the glass down, walked to the desk, and spread out a world map.

The map bore a dozen red dots—Australia's iron ore, Chile's copper and nitrate, Malaya's tin, South Africa's chromium, India's manganese… each red dot represented a procurement channel Lanfang was establishing or had already set up.

But these were all public, legal commercial transactions.

There were also some blue dots, marked in more concealed locations: Swiss bank accounts, Panama offshore companies, Cayman Islands trust funds… These were the financial network Wang Wenwu spent three months building to disperse cash flows and hide the true buyer's identity.

The phone rang again.

This time it was a Yingguo call.

Wang Wenwu lifted the receiver; the voice on the other end spoke English with a Scottish accent:

"Mr. Wang? This is McDonald from the Edinburgh Trust Company. The 5% stake in Clyde Bank you instructed us to acquire has been completed. You are now the bank's fifth‑largest shareholder and have the right to nominate a director."

"Very well." Wang Wenwu replied in fluent English, "Nominate my assistant Robert Chen. Also, through the bank channel, acquire a ten‑percent stake in Liverpool Shipbuilding Equipment Company—distributed under at least five different names."

"Understood. However, Mr. Wang, the Yingguo Trade Ministry has recently tightened review of foreign acquisitions in strategic industries, especially those involving shipbuilding and defense…"

"So we must use a domestic Yingguo trust company as the intermediary." Wang Wenwu cut him off, "I can raise the commission by another 0.5%, but I require completion within a month."

"We'll do our best."

He hung up and rubbed his temples.

The game was massive. Use Deguo's gold, transfer it through Swiss banks to a Yingguo trust company, acquire shares in Yingguo shipbuilding firms, then purchase the originally export‑restricted equipment in those firms' names, and finally ship it to the Persian Gulf…

Each step walked in a legal gray zone, each step could attract Yingguo intelligence.

But it had to be done.

Because many of the devices required by the 'Leopard Project' are things the Deguo refuse to give and the Yingguo forbid exporting. Only this roundabout method can gradually get them into our hands.

"Boss." The first assistant returned, his complexion a bit grim, "We just received a telegram from the Mumbai Office. The Yingguo Indian colonial authorities suddenly announced a fifteen‑percent 'Strategic Resource Tax' on all exported iron, manganese and chromium ore. Our procurement costs will rise sharply."

Wang Wenwu's brows knit tightly.

This was no coincidence. The Yingguo are tightening export controls on strategic resources, clearly targeting one or several specific buyers.

"Notify all procurement points," he decided quickly, "and immediately implement Plan B: rewrite all supply contracts to CIF price, shifting the tax burden to the sellers. If they refuse, threaten to cancel the contracts—while having backup suppliers ready to take orders."

"But that will offend our current suppliers…"

"They won't dare." Wang Wenwu sneered, "The global mining market is oversupplied; we are a major buyer. The Yingguo can raise taxes, but the mine owners won't want to lose orders. Go negotiate, be hard‑line."

The assistant hurried away.

Wang Wenwu walked onto the balcony and lit a cigar—his only indulgent habit.

In the night‑shrouded Singapore harbor, ships from around the world were moored: Yingguo cargo liners, Deguo cruise ships, Japanese merchant vessels, Dutch tankers… It was a miniature world where the great powers converged, competed, and traded.

And Lanfang, this unrecognized name, was quietly weaving a global resource network through the power of money.

Cigar smoke dissipated in the night breeze.

Wang Wenwu recalled the words Chen Feng had said before leaving the Persian Gulf:

"Wenwu, what you're to do isn't simple procurement. You must pave the way with money, carve a opening in the global trade system controlled by the great powers, direct resources to where we need them, while concealing our true intentions."

"This is hard, Young Master."

"That's why I sent you." Chen Feng had looked at him then, his eyes holding a depth beyond his years, "Because you are the one among us who understands the world's game rules best. You know how to use their rules to achieve our goals."