The antique shop owner originally falsely reported the price. The sale price of $125 is a lot of moisture, while the purchase price of $110 is even more moisture. The average price of antiques he sells on weekdays cannot reach $110. If he is asked to buy it for $110, he will definitely lose money.

If it is another industry, it doesn't matter if you deliberately quote a high price. If you originally sold something worth 100 yuan, you have to say that you have sold it for 150 yuan, and no one can do it. Anyway, bragging is not illegal. But it is different to make antiques. The antique industry not only needs to sell goods, but also needs to receive goods. If you brag too high, you will come back to sell antiques, which is not a loss.

The antique shop owner came to help the French envoy, but he didn't have to lose money. If Chen Qiang took a large number of antiques to sell, would he still not collect them? According to the price mentioned by the antique shop owner, if he lost money, if he didn't collect, he would lose his reputation.

The next second, the antique shop owner changed his words without hesitation, "I may have calculated it wrong. How could the average purchase price reach US$110!"

"What exactly is it?" Chen Qiang asked again.

"Well... I want to go back and calculate it." The antique shop owner said.

The other two antique shop owners also nodded, "Yes, we have to go back and calculate."

Chen Qiang nodded, "Okay, I look forward to the results after the calculation of the three. However, I hope the three can calculate carefully. If the price is appropriate, I am very willing to sell some of the antiques I have collected to the three."

Chen Qiang knew that these three people were afraid they wanted to come up with the French envoy, so he simply showed a hint of threat in his last sentence, which made the three antique shop owners look embarrassed.

...

Another day later, three antique shop owners gave a new average purchase price of US$90.

Chen Qiang knew that this was definitely not the actual average purchase price of the antique shop owner, and the actual average purchase price would definitely be less than US$90, but such a price had reached Chen Qiang's psychological expectations.

Chen Qiang's purpose was to collect more than 30,000 Chinese cultural relics from the French. Even if the price was a little more expensive, Chen Qiang could accept it. The 90 US dollars was even cheaper than Chen Qiang's average price to buy Chinese cultural relics from an antique store. Moreover, recovering more than 30,000 cultural relics at one time also saved Chen Qiang a lot of time and cost.

"Mr. Special Envoy, at the average price of 90 US dollars, then 22,400 antiques are 2 million US dollars." Chen Qiang directly saved the fraction.

The French envoy said, "Mr. Chen, this price is too low, add a little more!"

"Mr. Special, the 2 million US dollars is already a lot. It's enough for you to arm 70,000 to 80,000 soldiers!" Chen Qiang said.

"70,000 to 80,000? Mr. Chen, you must be kidding. It costs $170 to equip an army soldier in the United States, which is not considered a suppressive weapon such as heavy machine guns, flamethrowers. This is good if you can arm 10,000 people." The French envoy shook his head and said.

"Is the French army's equipment as expensive as the US army?" Chen Qiang asked back.

During World War II, the US military's equipment was the most expensive. A 1-square-automatic rifle had a purchase price of up to US$83 and a 2-heavy machine gun. The US military's purchase price was US$1,560. Seeing this price, it was obvious that the art companies were cheating on the finances.

Compared with the Japanese army's 38th large caps, the price is only 80 yen per unit, while the most commonly used p40 submachine gun in the German army is superior in performance than the US 3 submachine gun, and the price is 24 US dollars. The most widely used Mauser 98k rifle in the German army is about 285 US dollars.

In addition to weapons, the US military's individual equipment and logistics support are also very expensive. In addition to the equipment and items required for normal combat, the US military needs to smoke, eat chocolate, drink coke, and even eat ice cream. On days like Halloween, they will also travel thousands of miles from the United States to the Pacific Front, which is all money.

It is no exaggeration to say that the US military was the stupid son of the landlord family at that time.

The military of other countries does not have the same treatment as the US military, and they cannot afford so much money. Even if the treatment is similar, there is no need to spend so much money on the US military. For example, the Italian army during World War II was very good, with meat, wine, and cigarettes. They also went out to find women from time to time, but the cost was much less than that of the US military.

When Americans fight, no matter whether they can win or not, they will definitely burn money desperately. This is the same in the future. It is common for American troops stationed in Iraq to drive helicopters to buy takeout.

Although the French army is considered the first-class elite army in Europe, its equipment is definitely not as good as the US army, or even the German army. It will definitely not cost 170 US dollars to arm a French army.

The French envoy also knew that the US military was burning money, and even before the country fell, France could not burn money like the US military. However, he still defended that "Although our French army's expenses are not as good as the US military, it is still quite a lot, at least in Europe, it costs relatively high."

Chen Qiang smiled slightly and lowered his voice and said, "As far as I know, your country is planning to recruit new recruits in the African colonies, right? The envoy thinks that the recruits recruited in the African colonies need to use the same equipment as regular French troops? In my opinion, those recruits recruited from the colonies will give them a 1,911, a few grenades, a set of military uniforms and a steel helmet."

"Uh..." The French envoy pondered for a moment, and finally nodded helplessly. "Mr. Chen, what you said makes sense."

1911 was the main combat weapon of the US military during World War I. However, after the advent of a rifle, 1911 was gradually eliminated. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, all the US military had replaced the Garland rifle. Most of the eliminated Type 1911 rifles were used for training, and some were also supported by the Allies as material support.

Although the 1911 rifle was an equipment from World War I, it was a good weapon at that time. During World War II, the infantry of European countries mainly used submachine guns and tied guns. For example, the Lienfield Sleark3 rifle used by the British was the equipment developed during World War I and improved in the 1930s. The German Mauser 98k was not strong, and it was also developed during World War I and was transformed before World War II. At that time, only the Americans were rich and could afford a 1-square-automatic rifle. After World War II, the Soviets developed the AK47 with strong firepower, which established the advantages of guns, which also forced the United States and NATO to develop new guns, which changed the situation of Shuanqiang as the main battle rifle.

The soldiers recruited by France in African colonies were all African-American blacks. For the French, these African-American soldiers were cannon fodder on the battlefield, and the French did not expect African-American soldiers to fight like the regular French army. The true combat effectiveness of the Allied forces still depends on the British and American troops.

The original intention of Charles de Gaulle to recruit African-American soldiers was to gain more voice among the Allied forces. The French could not trust these African-American soldiers recruited from the colonies, and in the eyes of the French, these African-American soldiers had no combat power, otherwise Africa would not have become a colony.

A nation that cannot even protect its home will not be respected.

Therefore, the equipment given to African-American soldiers by France naturally cannot be like the regular French army, as Chen Qiang said, a gun, a few grenades, a military uniform, and a steel helmet are enough. Moreover, the gun was eliminated by the United States in 1911. This set of equipment cannot cost much money.

However, in Chen Qiang's opinion, such a piece of equipment is already considered luxurious. After all, on the other side of the earth, countless Chinese people do not even have such equipment, and some even only have cold weapons, but they are still fighting fearlessly with the invaders.

...

The two parties signed the contract at a price of 2 million US dollars, but when signing the contract, Chen Qiang purchased more than 32,000 cultural relics. As for how much it can be delivered in the end, it depends on Chen Qiang's luck. If Chen Qiang is lucky, these cultural relics will only damage a small part. If Chen Qiang is unlucky, it is possible that all these cultural relics will be destroyed by war.

This is more like a bet agreement. The bet is how many more than 30,000 cultural relics can be kept in the end. However, Chen Qiang knew that the winner of this bet must be himself. After all, in the future, the more than 30,000 Chinese cultural relics collected in the Louvre are real.

The guarantor the French envoy was seeking was Harry Truman, the future President Truman. With President Truman as a guarantee, Chen Qiang was not worried that the French would be liable for the debt.

If you buy more than 32,000 cultural relics for US$2 million, it will definitely be worth the money if you can get them all in the end. If the French were not really short of money, and if these cultural relics were not "futures", Chen Qiang would not have bought so many cultural relics at such a low price.

However, considering that this was the 1940s, 2 million US dollars was also a lot of money.

To make a simple comparison, the movie "Mrs. Minnifer" invested by Chen Qiang was the global box office champion in 1942. The movie was 5.38 million in the United States and 3.5 million overseas, which totaled 8.9 million US dollars. This box office was also the leader in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The $2 million spent on Chen Qiang to buy antiques is equivalent to nearly a quarter of the box office revenue of the annual box office champion movie.

In the future, the global box office champion in 2018 is "Avengers 3", with a global total box office of 2 billion US dollars, and a quarter of it is 500 million US dollars. This is also an astronomical figure. It is estimated that in 2018, no one will be willing to buy antiques with 500 million US dollars.

Chen Qiang thought the 2 million US dollars was worth it. In the future, he would donate all this batch of antiques to China. At that time, Chinese people would not have to go abroad to see the treasures of their own country.

...

After the transaction was completed, the French envoy specially hosted a banquet to entertain Chen Qiang, and the guarantor of the transaction, Truman, Member of the guarantor.

Chen Qiang felt that this was a good opportunity to get closer to Truman. After all, President Roosevelt had only two years left to live, and the Western world would be Truman's world in the next few years.

As Roosevelt's successor, Truman's light was hidden by Roosevelt. However, looking at Truman's actions during his administration, such as dropping an atomic bomb on Japan, implementing the Marshall Plan, promoting Trumanism, establishing NATO to fight the Soviet Union, recognizing Israel, participating in the Korean War, etc., it can be seen that Truman is also a very strong president. If he can establish a good relationship with Truman, Chen Qiang can also have an extra backer after Roosevelt's death.

Truman is also happy to maintain good relationships with rich people like Chen Qiang. After all, being a politician in the United States requires elections, and elections require money and capitalists to provide sufficient political contributions.

Truman in 1943 dared not expect the position of president. After all, Roosevelt is still there, and Roosevelt's fourth re-election is a foregone conclusion. At this special time, no one will challenge Roosevelt.

Truman wanted to continue to climb up, he had to make some achievements, be favored by Roosevelt and be promoted by Roosevelt. Truman's main work in the past two years was also in this regard. In 1941, he proposed to establish an investigation agency to discover and correct the waste, inefficiency and profit-making behaviors caused by the United States in war production. This investigation committee is the Senate Special Committee for the National Defense Plan Investigation. Truman personally served as the chairman of the committee, so this committee is also called the "Truman Committee."

In the future, this "Truman Commission" is called the most successful investigation work in the history of the US government, because this commission really found many problems. It exceeded the cost of military facilities construction, such as cutting corners from shipyard construction, etc. In the end, the Truman Commission saved the United States 15 billion US dollars, and Truman was widely praised. He appeared on the cover of Time magazine and became the person the people are scrambling to talk about. Truman's outstanding performance also made Roosevelt look at him with admiration. In the end, President Roosevelt decided to nominate Truman as the vice president of the United States in the presidential election.

...

Although there were not many people attending the dinner, there were wine and chatting at the dinner.

Truman drank the remaining red wine in the glass and then signaled the waiter not to add more wine.

"I've drunk enough, I can't drink any more." Truman waved his hand and then explained, "I have to participate in an important negotiation tomorrow and must be sober."

"Haha, I almost forgot that you are an important representative of the US government's negotiations. Unlike me, you are just listening." The French envoy replied with a smile.

Only Chen Qiang looked confused and didn't know what the two were talking about.

Truman also wanted to make friends with Chen Qiang, the mogul, so he lowered his voice and explained, "British Prime Minister Churchill led a delegation to Washington and started a negotiation with the US government to resolve some differences between the two sides on the opening of a second battlefield in Europe and military operations in the Mediterranean and Myanmar. This was originally a secret negotiation, but now the negotiations have been known by the top leaders of Washington, so it is not a secret, and your country has also sent representatives to participate in the meeting."

"We China also sent people here? I don't know if I recognize you." Chen Qiang said subconsciously.

"You should know Mr. Song, who had been in the United States for a long time," Truman replied.

"So it's him. I really know him. I didn't expect Chongqing to send him over again." Chen Qiang nodded and said.

Chen Qiang didn't take this kind of high-level affairs to heart, and he didn't have the right to intervene in such matters.

After the dinner, Chen Qiang returned to the hotel, and he planned to take the train back to New York tomorrow.

However, the hotel receptionist handed Chen Qiang a piece of paper.

"Mr. Chen, a Mr. Kong came to find you just now, and then he left an address and asked you to find him immediately after you come back!" said the front desk manager.

"Mr. Kong? No need to ask, it must be Mr. Kong! Why did he come to Washington?" Chen Qiang was slightly stunned, and then looked at the address written on the paper.

It was a famous nightclub in Washington.

I have to say that choosing this kind of place is really in line with Master Kong’s style!
Chapter completed!