in2ebook Chapter 142 A trivial price
Chapter 142 A trivial price
This place is naturally Persia, which is under embargo by the United States.
Persia, one of the major oil-producing countries, saw its exports drop from $100 billion to only $10 billion after the embargo was announced by the United States.
To attract customers, they announced that a barrel of oil would only cost $4.
In that era, the price of a barrel of oil was $2.5.
So you can imagine the price difference during this period.
If he resells oil between the two time and space, he can make tens or hundreds of dollars from a barrel of oil.
If he produces 20 tons a month, he can at least earn or million US dollars.
Although it is not much, it is enough to maintain the operation of the oil base.
After the problem was properly resolved, Little Mustache was in a very good mood.
However, Henschel and others on the side looked very bad.
Because he knew that his Tiger project had failed and was not competitive at all compared to the King Tiger tank.
Seeing that the mustache was in high spirits, Duncans asked directly, "Führer, if you are satisfied with our King Tiger tank, how about having it contribute its power to the Empire?"
"We built it in the hope that the Empire can win on the front lines, and this will also be an honor for Umbrella Corporation."
"It is also an honor for our King Tiger tank."
I have to say that Duncan's words were very insightful.
Not a single sentence mentioned whether to purchase the King Tiger tank, but every sentence did not stray from the point of purchase.
However, the man with a mustache did not answer directly, but glanced at his butler Speer.
When Speer saw the look in the mustache man's eyes, he immediately realized that it was his turn to come on stage.
"Mr. Duncans, your King Tiger tank is worthy of its name, and its performance in all aspects can meet the needs of the soldiers on the front line."
"But I don't know if its price is affordable for us. I really need to know how much it will cost us to purchase it."
After hearing this, Duncans immediately smiled.
He had already agreed on the price with Li Jingrong before coming.
It won't be too expensive, but it won't be too cheap either. It's just a little more expensive than the Tiger tank.
Duncans replied: "We invested a lot of manpower, material resources and money in this tank, and it is not cheap."
"After discussions with various departments, I decided that the price should not be less than 40 Reichsmarks."
"I wonder if Mr. Speer would accept this price?"
After hearing this number, Speer frowned.
This price was a little beyond his psychological tolerance.
You should know that the purchase cost of a Panzer IV tank was only 10 Reichsmarks.
The price of this King Tiger tank is enough to purchase four Panzer IV tanks.
Of course, he also knew that four Panzer IV tanks could not defeat one King Tiger tank.
But the price was indeed a bit beyond their budget.
Because the cost of the Tiger tank was only 25 Reichsmarks.
Speer did not answer directly. As the boss, there was no need for him to negotiate the specific price.
They just need to agree on a rough range and then let their subordinates slowly polish it.
In his opinion, it would be very good if the price could be negotiated to around 30.
Similarly, in Li Jingrong's view, 30 Reichsmarks is the bottom line, and it would be better if there were more.
If mass production is carried out using the current production line, the price of various material costs, labor costs, transportation costs, etc. added together is about 18 Reichsmarks.
Costs are so low because the engine, transmission and suspension systems are not produced here.
Producing these core components here is prone to technology leakage and is relatively more expensive.
So Li Jingrong purchased these things from modern time and space and then sent them to the factory warehouse.
And Duncans has acquired a large steel plant in Switzerland.
The main purpose is to provide suitable and cheap steel for tanks.
This is why the cost is so low.
If a tank could earn about 15 Reichsmarks, that would be $6 in US dollars.
If the purchase quantity reaches 2000 vehicles, the total cost will be US$1.2 million.
If the US$1.2 million is used to purchase gold, a total of 350 million ounces, or about 100 tons, can be purchased.
If calculated based on the modern time and space price of $1500 per ounce, it would be $52 billion, equivalent to more than 300 billion RMB.
Moreover, given the current situation of the Third Reich, how could it be possible to purchase only 2000 vehicles?
For the Third Reich, this war was a matter of national success or failure, and it was a battle on which the nation's destiny was at stake.
This is not the time to worry about money.
As long as production is not restricted, it is normal to purchase thousands of vehicles.
Besides, a few hundred million dollars was not much compared to the vast wealth plundered by the Third Reich.
And there will be a series of special vehicles to follow.
Assault guns, self-propelled tank guns, self-propelled artillery, self-propelled rocket launchers, etc.
These are all his money-making projects.
After finishing these, the next step is to test the tank.
The Tiger tank, which was destined to be eliminated, did not participate in the subsequent performance.
Because there is only one protagonist present today, and that is the King Tiger tank.
As an industrial product designed in modern time and space, it is very reliable.
After a series of wonderful performances, no problems occurred.
The Special Vehicle Research Institute did not play dumb on this point.
The sample cars given to him were all of very high quality.
The whole process went by quickly in the morning.
As the meeting was about to end, Guderian and Rommel came over one after another.
Guderian asked directly: "Lee, Mr. Duncans, I would like to know how long it will take for it to be delivered to the front line?"
Duncans thought for a moment before saying, "We're still adjusting the production line. They'll be on the front lines in two months at most. I can guarantee that."
"Two months? That's not bad. I'm looking forward to it."
After Guderian left, Rommel also came over, and his purpose was naturally the same as Guderian's.
However, Li Jingrong has already intended to lay out his plan for the North, and this is a good time to talk to this Desert Fox.
"What? You can support us with weapons, equipment and supplies, but you also need to send a mercenary group?"
"But what can I give you? You know, our military budget is not high. It's only enough to run the war."
Li Jingrong nodded and said, "Of course, we understand the general's difficulties. We only want 30% of your plunder."
"If the General is willing to agree to this condition, we will immediately initiate the plan to provide the Northern Army with a large amount of new weapons and equipment and supplies, including refined oil."
700 "At the same time, our Umbrella Corporation will also send a steady stream of mercenaries, with a strength of no less than ."
Rommel did not take this so-called mercenary group seriously.
What he cared about were the new weapons, equipment, supplies and oil.
These are what the Northern Army lacks most at present.
As for the spoils, to be honest, they captured quite a lot.
But they have money but can’t spend it.
The Eastern Front is fighting the Polar Bear, and the Allied landing on the Western Front is imminent.
The Allied ships were scattered across the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, and they were simply unable to obtain supplies from the outside world.
So if you are trading spoils of war, it is indeed a very good choice.
But this is not something he can decide.
If he trades with Umbrella without authorization, it would be a big taboo for Little Mustache.
But he was indeed very moved.
"I will convince the Führer of this, and I will give you an answer within three days."
"If the Führer agrees, I think I'll be able to receive your first batch of equipment and supplies when I return to the North."
After hearing this, Li Jingrong was very satisfied.
There was no reason for the mustache to disagree.
What he needed was to win the war, and the spoils were a trivial price to pay.
As long as he can win the war, what can he not get?
On the second day, the two sides finally agreed on a price, and Speer was also very quick.
The purchase contract was immediately submitted.
This time, Umbrella Corporation gave Little Mustache a big gift: the King Tiger tank.
And the man with the mustache didn't know whether he was returning the favor or he really needed it.
It also gave Li Jingrong a huge gift in return.
After receiving Umbrella's promise of an annual production of at least 2000 vehicles.
Speer simply waved his hand and placed a huge order.
In this contract, the price of a single King Tiger tank alone was as high as 30 Reichsmarks.
The reason why the price was cut by 100,000 at once was because the quantity of this order was very large.
The Third Reich showed their sincerity, so Umbrella Corporation naturally could not be stingy and give nothing.
The Third Reich Military Headquarters required Umbrella to provide the Third Reich Army with no less than 4000 King Tiger tanks within two years.
Subsequent improvements were also required to suit the needs of the Third Reich Army.
When Li Jingrong saw the contract, he was a little bit unbelievable.
He thought it was quite good that they purchased 2000 vehicles.
He even felt that this first order might not be very large, and 500 vehicles would be very good.
After all, there were only five or six hundred King Tiger tanks in service in history.
But I didn't expect that they would be so generous and place an order for 4000 vehicles at one time.
You have to know that this is a King Tiger heavy tank, not a light or medium tank.
However, if these 4000 tanks appeared on the battlefield, it would probably be a "tiger disaster" for both the Allied forces and the Soviet army.
Back to topic.
These 4000 tanks, each costing 30 Reichsmarks, brought Li Jingrong a total order of 12 billion Reichsmarks, or US$4.8 million.
The net profit of each King Tiger tank was about 12 Reichsmarks.
These 4000 vehicles cost 4.8 million Reichsmarks, or US$1.92 million, which rounds up to US$2 million.
If these 500 million US dollars were to be obtained in the future, not to mention more, billion RMB would be no problem.
And this does not include after-sales and weapons and ammunition.
These constantly consumed items can also bring Li Jingrong a steady stream of income.
Although he didn't do much calculations, Umbrella alone could provide him with about 5000 million US dollars in net profit every quarter.
Now with the addition of the big project of the King Tiger tank, he really has no shortage of money.
However, in Li Jingrong's opinion, this is far from enough.
After dealing with the affairs of the Third Reich, Li Jingrong went directly to the Beimi Oil Base.
Originally, Rommel invited Li Jingrong to fly back to the north with him.
But he wanted to go to the oil base to see the development situation, so he went ahead, and the two sides had already agreed on the time and place of the meeting.
In the future, Li Jingrong will be fully responsible for the affairs of the North as the vice chairman of Umbrella Corporation and president of the arms trade department.
Of course, this is the identity that is revealed in public.
North Oil Base!
When Li Jingrong came here, he was once again shocked by the speed of development here.
Compared to the previous time I came here, the scale of the oil base has expanded again.
It has become a small city.