Robson Ferrari told Scrooge that he needed 1,000 MacDonald Model 1857 rifles for his first order. Ferrari told Scrooge that he needed 1,000 MacDonald Model 1857 rifles for the first order. If the Sardinian kingdom and its allies were satisfied with the performance, they would continue to buy more MacDonald 1857 rifles, and the final number could reach tens of thousands.

This was a huge deal, and if it had worked out, Scrooge would have been a millionaire with this business. But Robson Ferrari's misconceptions. But Robson Ferrari's various inconsistencies made Scrooge suspicious. So he said to Robson Ferrari. Ferraris said.

"My dear friend, I wonder when you need the delivery?"

"The sooner we get it, the sooner we can train our troops, of course." Ferrari said, "If your company is in full production, after how long can you deliver the goods?"

"This ......" Scrooge deliberately made a difficult face, "you may not know, our rifle is very popular, the current production capacity has been completely saturated, and now the company's order has been scheduled for a year later. So it is difficult for me to provide you with so many rifles in a short period."

"Can't your company find a way to increase production capacity?" I've heard that your workers only work eight hours a day, while workers at other companies work at least 14 hours a day. So if your company is willing to increase the labor intensity a little bit and extend the labor time a little bit, there should be room for your company to increase its production capacity."

"Well, you know our company well. You know, the reason why our rifle can be sold is its unparalleled speed and accuracy, and the realization of these depends on the fine work of the workers, especially the skilled workers. I know that most companies have workers working 14 hours, and some factories will even let workers work 16 hours straight. But the workers in such working conditions are so exhausted that they even fall asleep standing up. In such a state, how can they make the most reliable and accurate rifles in the world? In fact, according to our experience, a skilled worker who works 8 hours at full concentration is already the limit, and further extension of working hours will only bring a rapid increase of defective products. The workers who make the precise version of MacDonald 1857 can only work for 5 hours. Moreover, our equipment is also running at full speed, and our workers are resting, but our machines never rest. Therefore, it is impossible to increase productivity by extending labor hours, at least in our company. The last boss of this company, because of the arbitrary extension of working hours, which led to a series of serious quality accidents, had to give up the company to me." Scrooge posed a look of no way out.

"But it's really hard for me to accept that it will take a year to get this batch of guns," Ferrari said.

"It's not a year from now, it's a year from now before we can start producing your rifles, and it will take another two months to complete your order. Unless ......" Scrooge said.

"Unless what?" Ferrari asked eagerly.

"Unless you can give me the full amount of your order so that I can use it to buy new equipment, recruit more workers, and produce these guns exclusively for you," Scrooge replied.

"In that case, how soon can I get the goods?" Ferrari asked.

"Half a month to prepare the production line and workers, and in two months, that is, two and a half months, I will be able to supply you with 1,000 rifles," Scrooge replied.

"I can agree to this condition, but I also have some special requirements. First of all, I ask that you give me a discount on the price. I know that the current price of a MacDonald 1857 is $50 per rifle. I ask that the price be reduced to $40. Since giving you the full amount in advance is the same as giving you a loan, I should be able to earn interest on it. Second, I request that all my orders be treated as top priority thereafter. Of course, as an equivalent condition, I can pay fifty percent of each order thereafter."

"Seventy percent." Scrooge said, "And the price of the guns can only be adjusted downward to $47. Otherwise, I might as well just go to the bank and borrow money."

"How about we both give up a little, and I agree to pay sixty percent on each subsequent shipment, and you agree to lower the price of each gun to $44?"

"All right. We have a deal!" Scrooge said.

"Okay, I'll send the first payment to your account first thing in the morning. I hope our future cooperation will be this pleasant." Ferrari smiled back.

......

"Scrooge, I hear you've made a big sale in my absence?" In Scrooge's office, Rockefeller, who had just returned from New York in a dusty state, said to Scrooge.

"Yeah, so we're buying more equipment and hiring more workers." Scrooge replied, "Here is the official contract, you are the company's investors, you come to see, what are the problems ...... Oh, by the way, this time in New York, your harvest how?"

"Not bad." Rockefeller picked up a glass of water that Scrooge put on his desk, and gulped it down. After drinking the water, Rockefeller put down the glass and touched his mouth with his hand, "The old equipment for making hollow macaroni at Denardy's is in pretty good shape, although some things need to be replaced, overall it's still good."

"How much did it cost you to negotiate?" Scrooge asked.

"Guess?" Rockefeller said smugly.

"Look at you, you must have gotten a bargain. 2,500 dollars?" The company is in a good mood to make a big sale, and he guessed with a smile. Scrooge knew that a whole set of brand-new equipment cost about $4,000, not including shipping costs. And Rockefeller said that the set of equipment is use talent was less than 4 years.

"$2000, including shipping!"

"You're great! Great!" Scrooge sincerely thumbs up to Rockefeller. In terms of doing this, he is much better than himself. "If you had been there two days ago, maybe we could have made more."

This time Rockefeller has sat down on the sofa and began to look up the big contract that Scrooge signed.

"Scrooge, you're hitting me." Rockefeller said, "I'm half dead tired, only to save five or six hundred dollars, and you stay in the office, a blink of an eye, and earned tens of thousands of dollars. The world is too unfair ...... and so on, the guy who bought the gun is a little off ah. He specifically stressed that the ship transporting these guns by him to determine what this means?"

"The guy claimed that it was for the sake of secrecy so that the Austrian guys would not know about our deal. But I think this is total nonsense, the Austrian maritime power is not enough to interfere with the Sardinian trade. Although that guy claimed to be Italian, I think he was a southerner in all probability. Under the guise of being an Italian, he is probably secretly stockpiling arms for the South. If we are allowed to prepare the ships, then it will be very easy to reveal the secret. In addition, I observed that the second joint of this guy's index finger had a very thick callus, which is the result of the prolonged use of firearms. I deliberately gave him an accurate version of the 1957 and invited him to test-fire it. By the way, I deliberately mentioned what would have happened if the Lone Star Republic had such a thing in the war with the Mexicans. Here I deliberately misspoke about the names of the generals on both sides. Although he did not correct my mistake, I could see from his expression that he had found it. An Italian cannot be so familiar with the war ...... to say that the Southerners are much more seriously prepared for it than we are." Scrooge said.

"That is because the present federal government is under the control of the Southerners." Rockefeller said, "And it is not a bad thing for the South to be well prepared. Otherwise, if the war starts today and we completely defeat the South tomorrow, what will we make money with?" Rockefeller laughed, "But, Scrooge, there must be a limit to the armed South, so that the first blow from the Southerners does not break us down."

"I'll take care of that, of course." I'll take care of that," Scrooge said.

Scrooge, Rockefeller, and Gardner had studied together many times about what would happen after the war. In the end, they concluded that as long as the war continued, the South would not have any chance of winning. Therefore, the only chance for the South was to take the initiative as soon as the war started, and defeat the North before it finished mobilizing.

"We have discussed these issues together again, haven't we? I've also shown you the cheap defenses that we can use in times of crisis, and with the guns, we have in reserve, we can certainly help the North get some breathing room." Scrooge continued after a pause.

"Oh, by the way, didn't a representative of the federal government come to visit that afternoon? What was their reaction?" Rockefeller remembered something else.

"How could the Democrats strengthen the federal army? It was just a formality - for both of us. But that representative the Feds sent is an interesting character." Scrooge laughed and replied.

"Oh, who did they send?" Rockefeller was immediately interested.

"They commissioned a retired major who is now an instructor at the Virginia Military Academy to come and take a look. Well, the army also very casually entrusted this matter to this person. So you can see that the Army does not take this seriously. But the retired major is an interesting character."

"What was the major's name?" Rockefeller asked.

"Thomas Jackson. Jackson." Scrooge replied.