Chapter 824 823 [What Zhou Hexuan Can Do]

On July 29, Beiping and Tianjin fell one after another.

Beiping is the old capital of China and holds great significance in the hearts of Chinese people. Tianjin is the second largest industrial and commercial city in China, second only to Shanghai in terms of economic status. The two cities were occupied by the Japanese army, and the whole country was shocked, and the voice of the whole people to resist Japan became even louder.

Four days later, an ocean-going cargo ship sailing from the UK finally arrived at the Shanghai pier.

The wooden boxes full of goods were carried to the warehouse by the porters, and they were densely piled up like a mountain.

Zhou Hexuan picked up the crowbar, opened one of the boxes, and said, "Brother Du, please take a look!"

Du Yuesheng picked up a packing box in the box, and the box was printed in English. Naturally, he didn't know English, but he could recognize a few abbreviations, and asked in surprise, "They're all sulfonamides?"

Zhou Hexuan nodded and said, "Eighty percent is sulfa powder for treating wounds, and the remaining 20% ​​is for oral sulfa tablets."

"How much will it cost?" Du Yuesheng looked at the boxes of goods in the warehouse.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Purchased at a price slightly higher than the cost, and including the freight, the value of this batch of goods is about 3 million pounds."

"Nowadays there is a war, the price of these medicines is at least ten times higher when they are sold in China." Du Yuesheng exclaimed.

Zhou Hexuan suddenly clasped his fists, and said seriously: "Brother Du, Brother Yu has a merciless request."

"But it doesn't matter." Du Yuesheng laughed, looking forward to Zhou Hexuan's next words.

"I'm going to donate these medicines to the soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War," Zhou Hexuan explained in detail, "According to my estimation, the south is about to go to war, and the war in the south will definitely start in Shanghai. I hope Brother Du can take good care of the medicines. Once the Songhu Anti-Japanese War outbreak, please deliver them to a war hospital."

Du Yuesheng originally thought that Zhou Hexuan would join forces with him to do business, taking advantage of the national crisis to make a fortune from the war. Unexpectedly, Zhou Hexuan donated medicines with an actual value of hundreds of millions of French currency, and entrusted him with full authority. While Du Yuesheng was ashamed, he also felt terrified, and said, "Brother Zhou, these medicines are too expensive, you should donate them yourself."

Zhou Hexuan shook his head and said, "I'm leaving Shanghai soon, and I don't have time to keep it properly. The Nanjing Central Committee is planning to hold a national defense conference. Military officials at all levels must make major adjustments. It's not good to hand over the medicine to anyone now. The corruption of the Nationalist Party You know that if you give the medicine to them early, some people will definitely resell it for profit. After thinking about it, it is the best choice to entrust the medicine to Brother Du."

Du Yuesheng was hesitant about this. Although he had earned a lot of black-hearted money and was jealous of sulfa drugs worth billions, he valued commitment and loyalty more. Once he agreed to help Zhou Hexuan keep the medicines, he must be responsible for it, otherwise his reputation would be completely ruined.

This is a hot potato. If the news is leaked, not only the Japanese but also some officials of the Kuomintang will follow.

It was too hot, Du Yuesheng didn't dare to pick it up.

"Please, Duke Du!" Zhou Hexuan suddenly bowed to the end, which is a traditional Chinese gift.

Seeing the world-renowned university scholars bowing to him, and thinking that it was related to the lives of countless soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War, Du Yuesheng suddenly felt a surge of heroism in his chest. His blood was surging, and he gritted his teeth and said, "Don't worry, sir, as long as I, Du, don't die, no one will try to use these medicines! If war really breaks out in Shanghai, I will definitely have a lot of boxes and send these sulfonamides to the hospital. Wartime hospital! If you violate this promise, you will be destroyed by heaven and earth, and you will die!"

"Thank you!" Zhou Hexuan clasped his fists and said.

"Brother Zhou, it's not too late, I'll go and make arrangements first." Du Yuesheng said seriously.

Du Yuesheng pretended to be nonchalant, and called in reliable youth members to guard the warehouse closely. He also made a deliberate slip of the tongue, claiming that the batch of tinplate imported from the UK was to be shipped to Hubei to make military cans.

Tinplate is tin-plated iron. At this time, China could not produce it by itself, and it was a very important strategic material.

Since it is tinplate, it is easy to understand that the guards are tight. The youths of the Qing Gang have become active, and at the same time, outsiders will not overdo it.

After Du Yuesheng arranged the matter properly, he came back and asked, "Brother Zhou, will there be any rumors at the customs?"

Zhou Hexuan said with a smile: "Don't worry, I've established a relationship a long time ago. The medicines arrived together with Sassoon's cargo, and it was only a symbolic inspection when they entered the customs, and the boxes were not even opened."

"That's good." Du Yuesheng let go of the last worry.

Victor Sassoon is the richest man in Shanghai. He takes both black and white, and both Chinese and foreign countries pay. Unless he deliberately finds faults, the customs officers will not carefully inspect his goods.

The Battle of Songhu is about to break out, and what Zhou Hexuan can do is to donate medicines to the soldiers of the Anti-Japanese War.

The sulfa drug with an ex-factory price of 3 million pounds is enough to save the lives of countless wounded soldiers. Especially when the medicine is in short supply, its role on the battlefield is not lost to that of an integrated division.

You must know that during the Anti-Japanese War, let alone Chinese officers and soldiers, even the Japanese invaders were in urgent need of sulfa. As a result, the Japanese army designated sulfonamide as a strictly controlled military drug, and private use would be severely punished by a military court.

Zhou Hexuan, Ornis, and King George VI co-founded the British Royal Pharmaceutical Factory, and its drug research and development laboratory has invited Ferrell and Chain to conduct penicillin experiments. However, it will take at least two or three years until the penicillin drug comes out, and it will take longer to really popularize it—the initial production cost of penicillin is too high.

In the original time and space, penicillin was not fully popularized until the end of World War II, and the price was ridiculously high. In China, a penicillin can be worth a small yellow croaker (gold bar).

Those who really saved lives during World War II, whether it was China or foreign countries, had to rely on sulfa drugs.

Some time ago, Zhou Hexuan went to England with Kong Xiangxi, not just to attend the coronation ceremony of the King of England. It took a full half a month before Zhou Hexuan persuaded Ornis and George VI, and the two agreed to Zhou Hexuan to open a branch factory of sulfa drugs in China.

The prerequisite is that the sulfonamides produced by Chinese factories can only be sold in China.

Of course, Zhou Hexuan can bypass the two partners and do it alone, after all, the drug patents are in his hands. However, setting up a sulfonamide factory is too complicated, and there must be enough professionals who understand technology, and these talents are in the hands of Ornis.

It is difficult to recruit enough manpower just by spending money on Zhou Hexuan. After all, China is too remote and backward, and wars may break out at any time, so it is not attractive to those British elites.

Also, if Zhou Hexuan wanted to produce sulfonamide in Chongqing, he had to build a raw material factory together. This is a big project, without the help of King Ying and Ornis, it would be extremely time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Even so, those British elites who agreed to come to China to work also demanded to sign contracts in advance. It is necessary to ensure that they can return to the UK for a long vacation every two years. The vacation lasts for half a year, and their family members must be properly arranged. Each of them must have their own high-end residence in China, and their salary is five times that of theirs in the UK.

In order to support the War of Resistance and to develop the national industry, Zhou Hexuan agreed to everything.

Zhou Hexuan intends to recruit the top domestic biochemists to study with the British guy, nominally to be an assistant to the British guy. Two years is enough for the Chinese to learn the technology, and the British who don't want to continue working can get out.