The next morning.
The sea mist in San Francisco Bay gradually dissipated under the sunlight. The deep blare of foghorns rose and fell, announcing the start of a new day for this industrial port.
Since he was taking people to see O'Neill today, Dum Gai did not wear the short-sleeved shirt he used for manual labor yesterday.
He changed into a clean tweed suit; though the cut wasn't perfectly tailored, it made him look sharp and capable.
Leading Intendant Li and his party, they navigated through the bustling blocks.
Intendant Li also refrained from wearing his conspicuous official robes today, opting instead for an ordinary cyan robe and jacket paired with a skullcap. Secretary Zhang and Interpreter Wang had also changed into plain clothes.
However, the bureaucratic air they had cultivated from long years in high positions still drew glances as they walked along the dirt roads of San Francisco.
A three-story gray stone building appeared at the end of the street.
Above the building hung a massive sign for the Metropolitan Trading Company.
Several freight wagons were parked in front, and armed security guards patrolled the entrance.
"Lord Li, we have arrived." Dum Gai came to a halt.
He stepped forward and exchanged a few words in English with the security guards at the door.
The guards recognized Dum Gai; they checked the group for weapons and then let them through.
They stepped inside the building.
Intendant Li's ears were instantly filled with a dense cacopy of noise.
Dozens of desks were arranged in the main hall.
Clerks were rapidly flipping through ledgers.
The clacking of Typewriters was as rhythmic and intense as a heavy rainstorm hitting a tin roof.
The door to the telegraph room on one side was half-open, emitting the continuous "tick-tock" sound of the transmitters.
It was the sound of an extremely efficient commercial machine running without a hint of redundancy.
Dum Gai led them up to the second floor, stopping before an oak door at the end of the hallway.
Dum Gai knocked on the door.
"Come in."
A gruff male voice called out from inside.
Dum Gai pushed the door open and made a gesturing motion to enter.
Intendant Li and the other two walked in.
The office was spacious, with a massive Pacific shipping route map hanging on the wall.
Witt O'Neill sat behind a wide desk.
He was looking over a timber procurement quote from Portland, his brow furrowed.
O'Neill looked up and was somewhat surprised to see Dum Gai.
"Dum? What are you doing here? Did something happen at the docks?" O'Neill set down the documents.
"Ah... no, no, Mr. O'Neill."
Dum Gai took a step forward, switching to fluent English.
"Please rest assured, Mr. O'Neill, the docks are operating quite normally. I am here today to introduce several important guests to you."
Dum Gai stepped aside, revealing Intendant Li and the others.
O'Neill sized up the three Chinese men with their queues and long robes.
He was used to seeing Chinese coolies and laundry owners in San Francisco, but these three did not have the humility of the lower classes in their eyes.
Seeing it was his turn to act, Interpreter Wang stepped forward.
He cleared his throat and began the introduction in English with a thick London accent.
"Mr. O'Neill, my greetings to you."
Interpreter Wang gave a slight nod.
"Allow me to introduce: this is Lord Li, the Special Commissioner for Foreign Affairs Inspection from the Zongli Yamen of the Great Qing Empire. We have come to America by order of the Great Qing Imperial Court specifically to procure industrial secrets and equipment."
O'Neill's eyes instantly widened.
He stood up abruptly from his leather chair, leaning forward with his hands on the desk.
The Great Qing Empire? An Imperial Special Commissioner?
O'Neill's heart began to race.
Originally, he had been dispatched by the New York headquarters to the West Coast to develop the market.
Though he had done well and multiplied the trade volume here several times over,
in the eyes of those New York executives, the West was still just a backwater for selling grain and timber.
He dreamed of landing a massive order that would shock the headquarters, allowing him to return to the Empire State Building in New York with staggering profit margins.
And now, a national-level procurement mission from a vast empire
had actually walked into his office of its own accord.
These weren't just guests; this was practically a mobile mountain of gold.
O'Neill immediately dropped his casual demeanor.
He rounded the desk and strode forward.
"It is a great honor, Mr. Li."
O'Neill extended his right hand.
Interpreter Wang translated for Intendant Li.
Intendant Li reached out and shook O'Neill's hand.
"Sorry. Everyone, please sit, please sit."
O'Neill pointed toward the leather sofas in the reception area.
He turned and shouted to his secretary outside the door.
"Hey... Daniel, go brew the best black tea. Remember, no coffee. Also, bring me that box of Cuban cigars that arrived yesterday!"
The four of them sat down in the reception area.
Dum Gai tactfully withdrew to wait outside the door.
O'Neill tried his best to suppress his internal euphoria, making his expression look like that of a professional businessman.
"Mr. Li, on behalf of the Metropolitan Trading Company, I welcome the arrival of the Great Qing mission." O'Neill watched as Interpreter Wang translated.
"I heard from Dum that you need to procure industrial equipment. I wonder which areas of equipment the Great Qing Empire currently needs most urgently?"
Intendant Li sat as steady as a bell.
He looked at O'Neill and began to present his list.
Interpreter Wang translated simultaneously.
"Mr. O'Neill, the Great Qing is currently promoting Westernization. The Beiyang Fleet needs to construct modern forts and docks. The Tianjin Machine Bureau and the Jiangnan Manufactory need the highest quality lathes and steel furnaces to manufacture guns and cannons."
"Furthermore, the Imperial Court intends to build railways and install telegraph lines in Zhili and Liangjiang. These are things the Great Qing cannot produce, so we need to procure them from your country."
O'Neill listened to the translation and secretly swallowed hard.
Forts, docks, steel furnaces, arsenal lathes, railway tracks, telegraph networks.
This wasn't an ordinary commercial procurement.
This was a massive empire in a feudal era presenting a complete list for national infrastructure construction as it stepped toward the industrial age.
If he could secure this order,
the profit would be an astronomical figure.
However, O'Neill didn't reply immediately, instead quickly calculating the resources of the New York headquarters in his mind.
"Mr. Li."
O'Neill's expression became extremely serious.
"The equipment you have listed belongs to high-level strategic industrial materials in America. Ordinary firms and trading companies might not even be able to enter the gates of these factories, let alone obtain export permits."
O'Neill began to showcase the strength of the Argyle Family.
"But as God is my witness, you have found the right person. If you went to the California government, they would break this order apart and distribute it among a dozen different intermediaries. Not only would you have to pay high kickbacks, but you might end up with a pile of obsolete scrap metal."
"Quite coincidentally, the Metropolitan Trading Company can solve everything for you."
The secretary walked in carrying steaming black tea, placed the cups before everyone, and then quickly withdrew.
O'Neill pulled a cigar from a wooden box on the coffee table but didn't light it, merely playing with it in his hands.
Intendant Li picked up his teacup and blew on the steam.
"Mr. O'Neill, I am aware that your company possesses great strength," Intendant Li said through Interpreter Wang.
"But words alone are not proof. I need to know exactly what quality of foreign goods your company can provide."
O'Neill placed the cigar on the table, stood up, and walked to a map of America on the wall.
"Mr. Interpreter, please translate every single word I say to Mr. Li."
O'Neill's tone was filled with pride.
"First, steel and railways."
O'Neill pointed to Pennsylvania on the map.
"You need rails for building railways and steel plates for shipyards. Metropolitan Trading Company's sister company is Lex Steel. They possess the world's most advanced Bessemer converter steelmaking technology. The structural steel they produce is currently being used to build twenty-story super-skyscrapers in Manhattan. They can provide rails that are completely free of impurities."
Intendant Li nodded slightly; steel was the top priority of the Self-Strengthening Movement.
O'Neill's finger moved to New York and New Jersey.
"Second, guns and machinery."
"We can allocate lathes for manufacturing firearms directly from the machinery plants in Philadelphia for you. As for ready-made munitions, Pioneer Military Industry is our sister company. The repeating rifles and gatling guns they produce are the current equipment of the American Army and the German Empire. As long as you have the money, we can load gatling guns directly onto cargo ships bound for the Great Qing Empire."
When Interpreter Wang translated 'gatling gun,' his voice trembled slightly.
Intendant Li's gaze instantly became burning hot.
This was because they had already learned how great a role the gatling gun played in the war between the German Empire and the French Empire.
And it just so happened that the army of the Great Qing Empire currently lacked exactly this kind of repeating firearm capable of suppressing cavalry.
"Don't be in a hurry, partner; there are also telegraph lines and lighting equipment."
O'Neill's finger tapped heavily on the location of New York.
"Do you know the Western Union Telegraph Company? It controls eighty percent of the communication network in America. There is also the General Electric Company, which holds the most mature patents for Direct Current generators and incandescent lamps. We can package a complete set of telegraph equipment and send it to the ports of the Great Qing Empire."
O'Neill turned around and looked at the Great Qing official, who was already too shocked by this continuous bombardment to speak.
"Besides these, if your navy needs warships, Atlantic Steam Power Company can build them. If you need kerosene, Standard Oil Company can supply the purest kerosene. If the army needs medicine, Umbrella Pharmaceutical Company can provide the latest disinfectant solutions and anesthetics."
"Not to mention we also own the largest Argyle Food Company in all of America, with the most complete and advanced food production and preservation."
"You should know, this company was the very first one established by the big boss."
O'Neill walked back to the sofa and sat down.
"Mr. Li, in this country, as long as it's something that can be produced in the industrial age, the enterprises under the Argyle Family can manufacture it themselves. Even if they don't have it, Metropolitan Trading Company holds exclusive agency rights for all the major factories in America. We even have products from some European countries!"
"So you don't need to look for anyone else. Metropolitan Trading Company is the only answer on your procurement list."
A dead silence fell over the private room.
Intendant Li's hand holding the teacup froze in mid-air.
When he had heard Dum Gai's description before, he only felt shocked.
Now, hearing this business manager methodically list out these factories and companies famous throughout Europe and America,
He truly felt a suffocating sense of pressure.
A single family.
Monopolizing a country's basic industry.
And these industries were exactly the lifelines that the Great Qing Empire was most eager to obtain.
"Mr. O'Neill."
Intendant Li put down his teacup, striving to maintain the composure of a high-ranking court official.
"I have already understood your company's strength. Since your company is all-encompassing, this business deal has great potential."
Intendant Li looked at Interpreter Wang.
"Tell him that the procurement quota I have brought this time is two million taels of silver for the first phase. If the quality of the goods is good, there will be an additional three million taels in the follow-up."
Interpreter Wang immediately converted the quota of two million taels of silver into dollars.
"Mr. O'Neill, our first-phase budget is approximately three million dollars. There will be another four and a half million dollars later."
When O'Neill heard this figure, his heart contracted sharply.
A total procurement amount of seven and a half million dollars!
Although it wasn't a super-large order for the head office, it was a different story for the Western branch.
It was indeed a gold mine that had not yet been fully exploited.
"A good budget."
The smile on O'Neill's face could no longer be hidden.
"Metropolitan Trading Company accepts this order. I will immediately draw up a detailed supply catalog and price list. At the same time, I will use a private telegraph line to report this transnational transaction directly to President Bill in New York."
O'Neill knew that for exports involving munitions and core machine tools, even President Bill wouldn't dare to promise lightly; the big boss himself had to give the nod.
As a mere Western regional manager, he did not yet have the authority to sign an export contract of this level without authorization.
Intendant Li nodded with satisfaction.
"Very well. Then I shall wait in San Francisco for the response from your company's headquarters."
Just as Intendant Li was preparing to get up and take his leave,
O'Neill suddenly raised his hand, gesturing for them to stay calm.
"Mr. Li, please wait a moment."
O'Neill's expression returned to that of a calculating businessman.
He looked at Interpreter Wang and spoke slowly.
"Rest assured, everyone, the things you need to buy are absolutely no problem for the Argyle Family. However..."
O'Neill leaned forward.
"Regarding the payment method, I think we must reach a consensus in advance."
Interpreter Wang translated, and Intendant Li frowned slightly.
"Payment method? Naturally, it will be settled in silver. I have brought Bills of exchange issued by the Imperial Ministry of Revenue, which can be exchanged for physical silver at several foreign firms in San Francisco. Does Metropolitan Trading Company refuse to accept silver?"
O'Neill shook his head.
"Of course we don't refuse silver, Mr. Li."
O'Neill took an international exchange rate report from a drawer.
"In America, we implement a dual-track system of the gold standard and Greenback paper currency. In the international market, the price of silver fluctuates very violently. If you use the Great Qing Empire's silver or Mexican silver pesos to pay the seven and a half million dollar Bill, Metropolitan Trading Company will absolutely not bear the exchange rate losses and recasting costs involved."
O'Neill stared at Intendant Li.
"Metropolitan Trading Company's rule is that for large-scale industrial exports of this level, we only accept two payment methods."
"First is physical gold; we only recognize gold bars with ninety-nine percent purity. Settlement will be based on the London spot gold price on the day of shipment."
"Of course, if you don't have enough gold,"
"You can also use equivalent Great Qing chartered commodities to offset the cost. For example, the exclusive monopoly rights for Great Qing raw silk, tea, and porcelain in the North American market. Or, the tax-free berthing rights for Metropolitan Trading Company merchant ships at designated ports in the Great Qing Empire, and so on."
O'Neill tapped the table.
"If there is no gold, then exchange it for privileges; this is the iron rule of the Argyle Family's business."