Two Hundred and Forty Third Alertness and Ambition
night.
In a small estate on the outskirts of Baltimore, Colonel Alexander Hamilton and the chunky officer were relatively silent.
There is a coffee table between them, and there is a candlestick in the middle of the coffee table. The candles in the candlestick are nearly half burnt, reflecting the wine glasses in front of the two of them, and it seems that the wine has not been touched.
The wine has not moved, the people have not moved, only the candle is flickering, like a person's mind.
The door of the living room was gently pushed open from the outside, and a dignified woman in a shawl walked in, her eyes were soft but extraordinarily bright.
"John, you have told many people that you want to buy Alexander a drink. If he goes back without being drunk, tomorrow people will no longer say you are simple, they will only say you are stingy."
The chunky official frowned and glanced at the woman: "The country is in turmoil, and Alexander and I are shouldering the heavy responsibility entrusted by George..."
"Slightly drunk will make the thinking clearer, and sitting still will only waste time." The woman insisted.
"Abigail, you can always convince me." The chunky official sighed slightly, and raised the wine glass in front of him, "Alexander, since it was Abigail's order, we did it."
Colonel Hamilton shook his head and raised his glass to touch the stout officer lightly.
"If it weren't for this era, I'm really worried that the commander will lose the trust of the parliament, because as long as Abigail is in politics, no one can beat her in eloquence."
"That's why men hold on to power, dear Alexander." The woman smiled and bowed in gratitude, "You talk, I'll make coffee for you."
Making coffee is just an excuse, the woman just hopes to break the deadlock. She knew that her husband had a problem, and there was no solution except to consult with a wise friend.
Sure enough, after she closed the door, the topic started naturally.
Colonel Hamilton rubbed his eyebrows in pain: "John, what Mr. Kenway said, do you think it is somewhat true."
"Most of them are, especially about the Drake family. I don't know any intelligence dealer who can find out so many secrets."
"Perhaps the French gave it to him?"
"Maybe... After all, he is related to that Count Galvez."
The colonel became curious.
"Count Galvez? I remember that he is the governor of Louisiana, an ordinary nobleman, who seems to have some military talent, and even fought off the British a few days ago?"
"Your information needs to be updated, my friend." The chunky official stretched his waist, "I was on a mission to France more than a month ago, and I met him in Fontainebleau. He is now in front of Louis XVI. The red man seems to have a close relationship with Queen Mary. By the way, because of the victory in New Orleans, he has been promoted to the first council, and now he is a French nobleman, and his fief is in Louisiana."
"A real earl of the New World?" Hamilton said in shock, "Is Louis XVI planning to betray the Americans!"
"It has nothing to do with politics, my friend, at least as far as I know, this promotion has nothing to do with politics or the ambitions of France. Galvez is Queen Mary's smuggling agent, you know, Madame Deficit's obsession with gold Make her do anything crazy."
"Fortunately..." Hamilton breathed a long sigh of relief, and started thinking again, "Galvez is the Queen's agent, and Edward Kenway is Galvez's agent... Could it be that this price increase is Madam Deficit? Insist on us, from now on, we all have to accept this woman's insatiable exploitation?"
The chunky official smiled, and a wise look flashed across his face.
"Actually, I don't care about the queen's exploitation." He said softly, "I only care about whether Shaq Drake really cut off the sea channel. If it is true, how can we raise more money for George? ammunition?"
"From Kenway?"
"Have you paid attention to his ship? It is a high-speed bagger type with wing sails attached. This ship is an elf of the sea. Once it runs, no one can catch up with her."
"But he only has one boat after all!"
"One boat can bring us a lot as long as it is stable.
Anyway, the French will not give everything to the Continental Army. They just want a weak England, not a strong America. "
Hamilton suddenly realized: "Are you going to raise the supply by raising the price?"
The chunky official held up two fingers triumphantly.
"Two regiments per month, 2,400 rifles, half of the pistols, but 12 light guns are required, as long as the land transaction is not affected."
"This amount...can the French agree?"
"It depends on the queen's love for money." The short and fat official stood up and looked out the window at the dark night, "If you want to form a federation, the future government needs absolute strength, and George also needs to make great achievements , all of which depend on the strength of the Continental Army.”
"We don't want a civil war, but we can't be afraid of a civil war. If we want the British to sit down and talk, we must have the courage to flatten the British. Money is not a problem in front of these problems. Only when it can be the key, the people's taxes will not be paid in vain. "
Colonel Hamilton bowed his head contentedly.
"As expected of you, political tyrant, John Adams."
...
Unfortunately, after waiting all night, Lorraine was unable to meet the real talker of Baltimore, John Adams, and his legendary wife.
It was still the handsome Colonel Hamilton who brought Lorraine a brand new contract, and it was not a draft, but a final draft.
This shows that the Americans have no willingness to negotiate at all.
Lorraine could only carefully read the binding conditions in front of him.
"Each contract includes 2,400 Charleville rifles, each priced at 100 pounds; 1,200 dragoon pistols, each priced at 50 pounds; 12 of the latest infantry light guns, each priced at 1,100 pounds. Ammunition, medicine can also..."
To be honest, the price is very good, very good.
According to this contract, the monthly turnover of the Jackdaw will reach a terrifying 313,200 pounds, of which 113,200 pounds belong to the promotion share. It is hard to say how much Lorraine will share, but the other 200,000 pounds is the actual contract income. There has long been a conclusion.
The cost is 47,000, the profit is 153,000, and the Jackdaw owns 40% of it, which is 61,200.
After deducting the basic expenses and deducting the 40% bonus, Lorraine will enjoy at least 35,000 pounds per month alone, and every time he goes back and forth, he earns an extra benchmark amount of the Northwest Europe Branch.
And that's just part of the contract.
The source of the raised part can only come from the earl's handling for Queen Mary, and the queen's profits must be indispensable, so Lorraine's share can basically only come from the difference between the new contract and the old contract.
Each rifle is 24 pounds, and each pistol is 8 pounds. If Lorraine remembers correctly, the difference between each light gun is 200 pounds, which adds up to... 25,600 pounds.
Still divided into four or six, the Jackdaw is 10,240 pounds. There is no need to deduct expenses for this, and Lorraine alone gets 6,144 pounds.
Personal income of more than 40,000 pounds per contract!
Lorraine couldn't help being excited, but he still forcibly suppressed himself and concentrated on calculating the risks required to fulfill the new contract.
Risks are everywhere, starting with the source of goods.
France has always controlled his input to the Continental Army, and the division of land and sea at a ratio of seven to three is also one of the means of this control.
Because the munitions transported by land cannot be hidden from others, based on the combat team's demand for supplies, most or even all of them will flow into the front-line supply chain, and will eventually become battle losses.
This is the way of smuggling that suits the French people best. How many troops the Continental Army has is up to him.
Unfortunately, land is too much of a risk.
There are canine-toothed fronts everywhere, and Indians loyal to Britain appear in the woods. Once the supplies are lost, the Americans will definitely not recognize them, and all losses will be borne by France itself.
But the sea is different.
Most of the sea merchants are free men, adhering to the principle of the former and the latter, and under the circumstances that the profits are almost the same, France has truly achieved the profit without compensation.
Because of this, even though land smuggling was more in line with the national interest, most of the materials were eventually transferred to the sea, but the quantity was stuck in a special position, that is, there was more than enough equipment for one regiment, and there was a shortage of two completed regiments.
This number is almost impossible to support the Continental Army's preparations for a new main corps. Ordinary line corps are acceptable, but after all, the attacking ability is too weak, and there is no value in hiding it.
The new contract is aimed at this small mind of the French...
2,400 rifles and 1,200 pistols can just form a full line regiment plus an elite grenadier regiment, and even 12 light guns are the most mainstream standard accessories to strengthen the grenadier regiment's ability to attack fortifications.
After the two corps are completed, the Line Corps can be used to strengthen the front line, and the Grenadier Corps can strengthen the foundation of the Continental Army and build their ability to fight independently.
The Americans can't wait to become the real protagonist of their own war, and this ambition is clearly revealed in the new contract.
So will Count Galvez agree?
For some reason, Lorraine vaguely felt that the answer was yes.
Because the price is so tempting.
Although the strength of the Continental Army may harm the interests of France, the French will benefit from it. Both the earl and the queen behind him will make a lot of money from this promotion.
With such good reasons, what could the earl be dissatisfied with?
The second issue is settlement terms.
The new contract requires that the U.S. side will guarantee the credibility of the Continental Army and postpone the settlement until the completion of each contract, instead of using the traditional method of paying for each ship and paying for both goods and money.
This is probably a sign that the Americans have begun to face up to the risks of navigation proposed by Lorraine.
They hoped to use the new contract to build a new army, so they wanted to force Earl Galvez to guarantee the integrity of the contract by pressing the payment, so as not to give up halfway because of too much loss for HNA.
This article is basically meaningless to Lorraine.
Being in the middle of the two countries, Lorraine, as the weak side, has no room for failure.
If success is the premise, the Americans will not default on their debts, let alone renege on their debts. The payment will be settled sooner or later.
What's more, the same clause happened to be included in the contract between Lorraine and the earl, which meant that the earl was the only one who really needed to bear the financial risk, and the earl was the only one who was damaged by this clause.
The most important thing in the new contract, and what Lorraine is most concerned about is actually the performance period.
The traditional performance period for US-French smuggling is one month, which is equivalent to the time it takes to transatlantic, which can ensure continuous trade and business.
But Lorraine is the only ship suitable for this smuggling, the Jackdaw, and the cargo space and sleep are all issues that he needs to consider.
The increased share of arms can also be resolved by adjusting the configuration.
If the Jackdaw reluctantly gave up the upper-level firepower and vacated the gun storage compartment and some material compartments in the forecastle, all the cargo could still be barely shipped in two trips, and with the bonus ship of consumables, the total number of rounds could still be maintained at Three rounds.
Time is running out...
In the absence of obstacles, the Jackdaw's round trip between New Orleans and Baltimore takes about 9 days. With the current sea conditions, 2 more days are needed to be safe.
This one-way 12-day itinerary cannot be used as a reference. Lorraine intends to wait for Bell to recover. On the way, he will check whether there are any new changes in Shaq's tactics. Little Cayman Island is too far away from New Orleans as a starting point...
However, the 11-day single round and 33-day contract cycle still cannot allow him to complete the contract within the traditional deadline.
It is also impossible for the crew to turn around at sea.
Continuous voyages will accumulate fatigue, and the accumulated fatigue will reduce the concentration force, so that the ability to maneuver the boat will decrease, and eventually lead to an increase in the risk of going to sea...
In other words, haste makes waste.
Lorraine pondered for a while, then raised his head and looked at Colonel Hamilton.
"Colonel, I understand your reason for taking the original of the new contract directly, but if you want me to sign and agree, we need a supplementary agreement."
"Supplement?" Hamilton was surprised and displeased.
"Yes, Supplement." Lorraine made his comments slowly as if he didn't see him, "The Supplementary Agreement mainly involves two aspects. First, in view of the tense situation at sea, I hope that the performance period of the new contract will be 45 days. Instead of the traditionally agreed 30 days."
Hamilton was even angrier.
"Mr. Kenway is teasing me? Two trips in three months, the ammunition we requested is not met at all, and the new contract means nothing to us!"
"No, no, no. You have to understand that the munitions delivered safely to Baltimore are the munitions of the Americans, otherwise they are just sacrifices from the sea, and some of them will become the minions of the British."
Lorraine shook her finger and smiled slightly.
"The training and combat of elite troops will cause wear and tear, and it will not do any good for logistics."
"So I tailor-made the second clause of the supplementary agreement for you, that is, during every two contracts, we will ship an additional ship of ordnance, mainly rifles and pistols, and the quantity is variable. It's just this ship, We have to live with the old contract."