Chapter 173: 172 Major Procurement: Bullet Production Line, 1710 Engine, Las Vegas Opening
Al Capone looked at Fang Wen indifferently.
In his career before entering prison, he had dealt with all sorts of people, and only two types could state their purpose so directly.
One type was arrogant people who thought they had the ability to control everything.
The other type was people who held the trump card and were confident in themselves.
He didn’t know which type this unfamiliar Easterner in front of him belonged to.
“You think I’ll cooperate with you?” he asked.
Fang Wen smiled and replied: “Not certain. The first time I heard your name was in Shanghai. One of your men brought a batch of cargo to sell, but the cargo was lost, and he was injured. I sent him back.”
Because there was a prison guard present, Fang Wen used the word “cargo” instead of munitions.
“You mean that kid Jimmy.” Al Capone’s expression softened: “He mentioned you. I can hear about your business.”
“No rush. Let’s talk about you first.” Fang Wen began trying to take control of the conversation.
He said: “Your current situation isn’t good. Because of the transfer to this prison, things have spiraled out of control in Chicago. At the same time, due to tax problems, you have gone bankrupt. If there’s no good business to solve your financial problems, I think you’ll have even bigger problems after getting out.”
Fang Wen stated a brutal reality: gangs bound together by interests would also fall apart because of interests.
Al Capone had gone bankrupt due to massive black income and huge tax fines.
He had no funds to support his gang, nor interests to restrain the other Chicago Mafia.
That was why he had risked sending men to the Far East region of Shanghai to expand the arms business.
But obviously, that attempt had also failed.
With his trump card seen through, Al Capone instantly lost his arrogance.
He admitted frankly: “That’s right, I have nothing left. After getting out, I might even have to sell my autobiography rights to a publisher. If your business can help me turn things around, I’d be very willing.”
As he spoke, he looked at the guard and added: “If your business needs confidentiality, I can have him step out for a few minutes.”
“No need for confidentiality. My business is legitimate.”
Fang Wen smiled and revealed the Las Vegas casino business.
Al Capone immediately understood the opportunity.
He analyzed: “This is indeed the best business for me. No capital needed, legitimate, and it can grow quickly. You’re a genius.”
But the next minute, he thought of more.
“This isn’t something just a genius can achieve. You must have solved a lot of troubles, and someone is willing to look after your business. I’m willing to join your business.”
He agreed readily.
But this wasn’t all of Fang Wen’s purposes for coming here.
Fang Wen continued: “I have some more interesting business that needs 10 minutes of confidentiality.”
Al Capone looked at the guard, and the two exchanged glances with their eyes, then he replied: “If at 5 p.m. tomorrow, a tired off-duty guard at Dock 39 picks up 300 US Dollars, he’ll be very happy.”
“No problem, he’ll get it.” Fang Wen replied.
The guard standing straight turned and left the room without hesitation.
Because there were only 10 minutes, Fang Wen stated his request directly.
“I want two Allison V-1710 engines, a complete set of oil refining equipment, and supporting technicians, plus a bullet production line. And a cargo ship from San Francisco to Southeast Asia to transport these things to Asia.”
A gleam flashed in Al Capone’s eyes.
If the casino company’s business could restore his dignity after release, these deals could make him a fortune.
For someone who had once led the Chicago Gang, he knew exactly how to get his hands on things.
He inquired carefully.
“I don’t know where to get the Allison V-1710 aircraft engines. You need to tell me more.”
“Have your men go to Indianapolis. There’s an Allison Engineering Company there, which was acquired by General Motors a couple of years ago.”
“Indianapolis, I have people there, should be able to get them. I can also handle the bullet production line and the ship. As for the complete set of oil refining equipment and supporting technicians, sorry, I can’t manage that right now, but I can help you find the right people.”
Fang Wen nodded: “Besides the oil refining equipment and supporting technicians, how much do you want for the rest?”
Al Capone faced a huge choice.
He realized this was a once-in-a-lifetime deal, and if he didn’t seize the chance to demand a big sum, he might not get another.
He considered what quotation to make.
Money?
Al Capone originally wanted a large sum of money.
But he thought of the US Internal Revenue Service and shuddered.
This money would also be of unclear origin, unable to provide transaction details, but taxes couldn’t be avoided by a cent.
After some internal struggle, he made what he thought was a good quotation and waited for Fang Wen to counter.
“I want 200,000 US Dollars, and 10% shares in Taishan Casino Company.”
Fang Wen could accept this demand.
The 200,000 US Dollars quotation wasn’t high; the 10% shares in Taishan Casino Company were the main part. But giving it directly would make Al Capone think he was too generous.
He offered another plan.
“200,000 US Dollars paid in two installments: 100,000 when the cargo is loaded and shipped, and the remaining 100,000 upon arrival. As for the 10% equity, paid over five years, 2% equity each year, full amount after five years.”
This installment payment of equity would better tie Al Capone to the Las Vegas Casino Company. Fang Wen even planned to give him the position of deputy general manager of business upon release, to coordinate and supervise the gambling hall operations of various gangs.
With the conversation here, the guard came back in from outside. Fang Wen smiled and stood up: “I’ll stay in San Francisco for a while, waiting for your reply.”
Then he left the room.
Cooperation with Al Capone was underway.
This former gang boss still had resources he could command.
The next day, when that off-duty guard picked up 300 US Dollars, he also found a letter.
The letter contained Al Capone’s reply.
It agreed to handle everything in a month and attached the name of an expert, Fermino, who could obtain oil refining equipment.
This man wasn’t in a gang but had dealt with Al Capone over business issues. He was in San Francisco, running a finished oil export company and was very knowledgeable about the industry.
Fang Wen specifically visited Fermino Oil Company.
The company was in San Francisco’s port district, in a two-story building where the ground floor was filled with various lubricating oil products, and upstairs was the office area.
Fang Wen and Indiana went upstairs and found Fermino, revealing their identity directly.
“We’re introduced by Al Capone. He said you could definitely help me.”
Fermino was surprised, stood up quickly to greet them, and asked: “What do you need help with?”
“I want a set of oil refining equipment and supporting technicians.” Fang Wen said straightforwardly.
“You definitely don’t understand refining technology, right?” Fermino asked.
“Indeed, we don’t. Hope you can explain.” Fang Wen replied sincerely. Not knowing was not knowing; to build a refinery in the future, he was willing to learn.
Fermino explained the current situation of oil refineries.
Currently, there were two oil refining technologies on the market.
The first was the distillation method, which used the different boiling points of crude oil components, separating crude oil into fractions of different boiling points like gasoline, diesel, heavy oil, lubricating oil, etc., through heating and decompression.
It was also the early oil refining method, which didn’t work well for heavy crude oil with more impurities.
The second was thermal cracking technology, invented twenty years ago.
Thermal cracking was the process of cracking heavy oil into smaller molecules at high temperatures to obtain more light oil.
This technology, though adding processes, yielded more output and better quality.
Costs dropped significantly instead, and most refineries now chose to upgrade to thermal cracking technology.
Hearing the explanation, Fang Wen benefited greatly and then asked: “I want to buy a refining unit with thermal cracking technology. Any way?”
Fermino nodded and took out a design blueprint: “Not difficult. I once wanted to open a refinery and prepared a lot for it.”
Under Fermino’s introduction, Fang Wen learned what was needed to open a refinery in this era.
One, raw material pretreatment equipment.
Raw material tank area: for storing crude oil or heavy oil raw materials.
Raw material pump: to deliver raw materials from the tank area to the cracking system.
Heat exchanger: to preheat the raw materials and improve cracking efficiency.
Two, cracking reaction equipment.
Thermal cracking retort: core equipment, used to heat raw materials to high temperatures for cracking reactions.
Burner: provides heat for the cracking furnace, can burn heavy oil or natural gas.
Three, distillation separation unit.
Distillation retort: seals and heats to high temperatures, then decompresses to separate various oil products.
Four, purification unit.
Different oil products have different purification equipment; only after purification are they final refined products.
Fang Wen listened carefully to Fermino’s explanation and understood why Fermino ultimately hadn’t succeeded in opening one.
Because the costs were too high. Though it could recoup through refining, the initial investment was beyond his means.
The thermal cracking retort and distillation retort alone cost hundreds of thousands of US Dollars, plus others, a medium-sized refinery would exceed a million US Dollars.
This didn’t include investment in personnel; without professional technicians, the refinery couldn’t operate normally.
Having learned all this, Fang Wen became pensive.
He was really keen on the refinery. War wasn’t just about lives, military quality, equipment, but also energy. After full-scale war broke out, if there was a refinery in South Asia providing a steady stream of oil products, the frontline would be much easier.
Thinking of Britain and America, their endurance in World War II was greatly due to massive energy supplies.
Time passed bit by bit.
A month later, early August.
Most things were changing in the direction Fang Wen expected.
Allison Engineering Company was burglarized by thieves, and those speaking Italian surprisingly targeted the V-1710 engines.
God knows why they were interested in such bulky items. Despite the company reporting to the local police, no one thought those Sicilians could be found.
（Early C-series V-1710）
Similarly, that group of Sicilians tried to find a bullet production line.
With their well-informed channels, they discovered a bullet production workshop long out of production in an abandoned warehouse in Detroit.
It was a production line for 7.92mm Mauser rifle bullets, specifically for exporting bullets for Mauser rifles during World War I.
After World War I ended, the workshop had long stopped operating, and the equipment was somewhat rusted.
But with maintenance, it could still be used.
Unsure if these met the buyer’s needs, they telegraphed Fang Wen directly.
Upon hearing it was 7.92mm bullets, Fang Wen agreed without hesitation. They were the most consumed in the War of Resistance, usable for Mauser rifles, Hanyang Type, Zhongzheng rifles.
As for the cargo ship from San Francisco to Yangon, Al Capone’s men had already arranged it, just waiting for cargo to be loaded and depart.
Now only the refining equipment and technicians were left.
Fang Wen finally realized it was impossible to complete the refinery construction alone.
He needed a partner, an ally experienced in oil, to build a refinery together in South Asia.
August 11.
The completed airport and renovated Taishan Paradise officially opened.
The company invited the Mayor of Las Vegas to cut the ribbon together.
After the ribbon-cutting, airplanes from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Chicago, New York—the five cities—took off for Las Vegas.
These planes full of passengers landed at the airport.
Led by gang members from various places, they entered Taishan Paradise.
This group came for gambling and was the company’s main source of income.
But they were only part of the customers; more were tourists from various places.
Propaganda for those people focused mainly on nearby Los Angeles, Flagstaff, Carson City, San Francisco, Salt Lake City.
And to attract them during holidays, tourists from the five cities to Taishan Paradise could get various expense discounts with train tickets.
Under this highly attractive propaganda, on Saturday, August 12, more tourists came.
These people, lured by free tickets, came with families and entered Taishan Paradise.
There, they saw shops galore, hotels, public swimming pools.
People checked into hotels and played in the pools, a nice relaxation in the scorching summer.
But if it was just these, the seaside would be more suitable.
What attracted them more was yet to come.
Tourists with hotel stay vouchers could enter the Grand Theater for free to watch performances by a grand troupe from New York.
This was entertainment not available in western cities.
Tourists who had long heard how great New York Broadway musicals were eagerly lined up to enter.
They watched extremely wonderful musical performances but felt regretful because there was only one free chance.
Some chose to pay to watch.
More tourists went to other places.
Carousel, roller coaster, clown performances, and circus in the tent.
Tired from playing.
Tourists would receive a free catering ticket to enjoy the buffet.
Various foods, all free to eat, opened the tourists’ eyes.
They filled their plates and ate heartily; even after full, they had an iced drink to top it off.
Full and satisfied, played enough.
Everyone returned to the hotel.
After a short rest, many couldn’t hold back their desires and went to the casino to see.
Just to see, but some became new profit growth points.
In short, in the future business environment created by Fang Wen, tourists inevitably faced the moment of payment.
The smooth development of Taishan Casino Company put Fang Wen at ease.
He began preparing for the Strange Mountain exploration in St. Louis.
