Chapter 244

Night.

In a small manor outside Baltimore, Colonel Alexander Hamilton and the pudgy officials were speechless.

In the middle of them was a tea table. There was a candlestick in the middle of the tea table. The candle of the candlestick burned nearly half, reflecting the wine glass in front of them. It seemed that there was no drop of wine.

Wine did not move, people did not move, only candles swayed, like people's mind.

The door of the living room was gently pushed open from the outside, and a dignified woman in a shawl came in. Her eyes were soft but bright.

"John, you told many people that you would buy Alexander a drink. If he went back without getting drunk, tomorrow others would not say you were simple, but that you were stingy."

The pudgy official frowned and glanced at the woman: "the country is shaking, Alexander and I are shouldering the heavy responsibility entrusted by George..."

"Being slightly drunk will make your mind clearer, and sitting idle will only waste time," the woman insisted.

"Abigail, you can always convince me." the pudgy official sighed slightly and raised his glass in front of him. "Alexander, since it was Abigail's order, we did it."

Colonel Hamilton shook his head, raised his cup and touched the pudgy official gently.

"If it were not for this era, I am really worried that the commander would lose the trust of Parliament, because as long as Abigail is in politics, no one can beat her in eloquence."

"That's why men hold on to their power, dear Alexander." the woman smiled and bowed her thanks. "You talk, and I'll make coffee for you."

Making coffee is just an excuse. The woman just wants to open the deadlock. She knew that her husband had encountered problems, and there was no solution except to discuss with her wise friends.

Sure enough, when she closed the door, the topic naturally opened.

Colonel Hamilton rubbed his brows painfully. "John, what Mr. KENWAY said is somewhat true."

"Most of them are, especially about the Drake family. I don't know which intelligence dealer can find out so many secrets."

"Maybe the French gave it to him?"

"Maybe... After all, he has something to do with the count galvis."

The Colonel became curious.

"Count galvis? I remember he was the governor of Louisiana, an ordinary nobleman. He seemed to have some military talent. He beat back the British a few days ago?"

"Your information needs to be updated, my friend." the pudgy official stretched his waist, "More than a month ago, I went to France and met him in Fontainebleau. He is now a popular man in front of Louis XVI and seems to be very close to Queen Mary. By the way, because of the victory of New Orleans, he has been promoted to the first parliament. Now he is a French aristocrat, and the fief is in Louisiana."

"A real count of the new world?" Hamilton said in shock. "Is Louis XVI going 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 and French ambition. Galvis is Queen Mary's smuggling agent. You know, Mrs. deficit's obsession with gold can make her do anything crazy."

"Fortunately..." Hamilton breathed a long sigh of relief and began to think again. "Galvis is the Queen's agent, and Edward kenvey is galvis's agent... Is this price increase inspired by Mrs. deficit? From now on, we all have to accept this woman's insatiable exploitation?"

The pudgy official smiled with a wise look on his face.

"In fact, I don't care about the exploitation of the queen," he said softly. "I only care whether Shaq Drake really cut off the passage of the sea. If so, how can we raise more arms for George?"

"From KENWAY?"

"Have you noticed his boat? It's a high-speed barg with attached wing sails. This ship is an elf on the sea. Once it runs, no one can catch up with her."

"But he has only one boat after all!"

"As long as it is stable, a boat can bring us a lot. Anyway, the French won't give everything to the Continental Army. They just want a weak England and don't need a strong America."

Hamilton suddenly realized, "are you going to raise the supply by raising the price?"

The pudgy official cocked up two fingers triumphantly.

"Two regiments a month, 2400 rifles and pistols can be as long as half, but 12 light guns should be added without affecting land transactions."

"This quantity... Can the French agree?"

"It depends on the Queen's love for money." the pudgy official stood up and looked at the heavy night outside the window. "If you want to establish the Federation, the future government needs absolute strength, and George also needs to build great achievements, which all need to rely on the strength of the Continental Army."

"We don't want civil war, but we can't be afraid of civil war. If we want the British to sit down and talk, we must have the courage to wipe out the British. Money is not a problem in front of these problems. Only if it can become the key, the people's taxes will not be paid in vain."

Colonel Hamilton bowed his head with great admiration.

"Worthy of you, political tyrant, John Adams."

……

Unfortunately, after waiting all night, Lorraine couldn't see the real talker John Adams and his legendary wife in Baltimore.

It was still the handsome Colonel Hamilton who brought Lorraine a new contract, not a draft, but a final one.

This shows that Americans have no willingness to negotiate at all.

Lorraine could only read carefully the binding conditions in front of him.

"Each contract includes 2400 charlville rifles, with a unit price of 100 pounds; 1200 dragon cavalry pistols, with a unit price of 50 pounds; 12 latest infantry light guns, with a unit price of 1100 pounds, with a ship of consumables free of charge, no bandages, as long as military uniforms and ammunition, drugs..."

To be honest, the price is very good, very good.

According to this contract, the monthly running water of the Jackdaw will reach a terrible 313200 pounds, of which 113200 pounds belongs to the raised share. It's hard to say how much Lorraine can share, but the other 200000 pounds is the real income in the contract, and the share has been decided for a long time.

The cost is 47000 and the profit is 153000. The Jackdaw has 40% of them, that is, 61200.

After deducting the basic expenses and 40% of the dividend, Lorraine will enjoy at least 35000 pounds per month. Once it comes back, it will earn an additional benchmark amount of the European Northwest Branch.

This is only part of the contract.

The source of goods for the raised part can only come from the part that the count manages for Queen Mary. The Queen's profit must not be less, so Lorraine's share can only come from the difference between the new contract and the old contract.

Twenty four pounds for each rifle and eight pounds for each pistol. If Lorraine remembers correctly, the difference between each light gun is 200 pounds, which adds up to 25600 pounds.

Still divided into four or six, the Jackdaw is 10240 pounds. There's no deduction. Lorraine gets ￡ 6144 alone.

Personal income of ￡ 40000 per contract!

Lorraine's heart could not help being excited, but he still forcibly suppressed himself and focused on calculating the risks needed to perform the new contract.

Risks are everywhere, first of all, the source of goods.

France has always controlled his input to the Continental Army, and one of the means of this control is to divide it into sea and land in a ratio of 73.

Because the arms transported on land cannot be concealed, based on the supply needs of the combat team, most or even all of them will flow into the front supply chain and eventually become war damage.

This is the smuggling method most in line with the wishes of the French. How many troops there are in the Continental Army is up to him. Until peace really comes, the new United States can only live with his breath.

Unfortunately, however, the risk of land is too great.

There are jagged fronts everywhere. There are Indians loyal to Britain in the woods. Once they lose their supplies, the Americans will certainly deny them, and all the losses will be borne by France itself.

The sea is different.

Most of the sea merchants are free people. Adhering to the principle of previous goods and later goods, France has really achieved no loss when the profits are almost the same.

For this reason, even if land smuggling is more in line with national interests, most of the materials are finally transferred to the sea, but the quantity is stuck in a special position, that is, more than one regiment is equipped and two regiments are in great shortage.

This number is almost impossible to support the Continental Army in preparing for the new main Corps. The ordinary line Corps is OK, but after all, its ability to tackle tough problems is too weak and has no hidden value at all.

The new contract is aimed at the French's careful thinking

2400 rifles and 1200 pistols can just form a full line regiment and an elite projectile regiment. Even 12 light guns are also the most mainstream standard accessories to strengthen the tackling ability of the projectile regiment.

After the completion of the two corps, the line Corps can be used to strengthen the front line, and the projectile throwing Corps can strengthen the details of the Continental Army and build their ability to fight independently.

Americans can't wait to be the real protagonist of their war, and this ambition is clear in the new contract.

So will count galvis agree?

I don't know why, Lorraine vaguely thought the answer was yes.

Because the price is so attractive.

Although the strength of the Continental Army may harm the interests of France, the French will benefit from it. Both the count and the queen behind him will make a lot of money in this promotion.

For such good reasons, what is the count dissatisfied with?

The second problem is the settlement clause.

The new contract requires that the US side will guarantee the credibility of the Continental Army and postpone the settlement until the completion of each contract, rather than using traditional means to settle each ship and pay both money and goods.

This is probably a sign that Americans have begun to face up to the risks of maritime navigation proposed by Lorraine.

They hoped to use the new contract to build the new army, so they wanted to force count galvis to ensure the integrity of contract performance by pressing the payment for goods, so as not to give up halfway due to too much loss of HNA.

This one makes little sense 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, Americans will not default, let alone default, settle early and late, and the payment for goods will always be settled.

Moreover, the same clause happens to exist in the contract between Lorraine and the count, which means that the count is the only one who really needs to bear the financial risk, and only the count is damaged by this clause.

In fact, the most important and most concerned by Lorraine in the new contract is the performance period.

The traditional performance period of U.S. - French smuggling is one month, which is the same as that across the Atlantic, which can ensure continuous trade and business.

However, Lorraine is only the Jackdaw suitable for this smuggling. Cargo hold and rest are all issues he needs to consider.

The increased arms share can also be solved by adjusting the configuration.

If the Jackdaw reluctantly gives up the upper firepower and vacates the gun storage tank and some material tanks in the forecastle, all the goods can still be transported in two times. With the attached consumables, the total number of rounds can still be maintained at three.

Time can't help

Without hindrance, the duration of the single round of the Jackdaw back and forth between New Orleans and Baltimore is about 9 days. With the current sea surface conditions, if you want to be safe, you have to add 2 days.

This single 12 day trip is not for reference. Lorraine intends to wait for bell to recover and explore whether Shaq's tactics have changed on the road. As a starting point, Little Cayman Island is too far away from New Orleans

However, the 11 day single round and 33 day contract cycle still can not allow him to complete the contract within the traditional period.

The crew can't be connected at sea.

Continuous navigation will accumulate fatigue, which will reduce the concentration force, so that the ship handling capacity will decline, and finally lead to the increase of sea risk

In other words, haste makes waste.

Lorraine pondered for a long time and looked up at Colonel Hamilton.

"Colonel, I understand your reason for directly obtaining the original of the new contract, but if you want me to sign and agree, we need a supplementary agreement."

"Add?" Hamilton was surprised and unhappy.

"Yes, supplement." Lorraine seemed not to see him and put forward his opinions slowly. "The supplementary agreement mainly involves two aspects. First, in view of the tense maritime situation, I hope the performance period of the new contract will be 45 days instead of the traditional 30 days."

Hamilton was even more angry.

"Is Mr. KENWAY teasing me? Twice in three months, the arms we asked for can't be met at all. The new contract means nothing to us!"

"No, no, No. you have to understand that the arms safely sent to Baltimore are American arms, otherwise they are just sacrifices to the sea and some will become minions of the British."

Lorraine shook her finger and smiled gently.

"The training and combat of elite troops will cause losses. Full planning is not good for logistics."

"So I customized the second paragraph of the supplementary agreement for you, that is, during each two contracts, we should ship an additional ship of ordnance, mainly rifles and pistols, in varying quantities. But for this ship, we have to calculate according to the old contract."