Ming Zuo

Chapter 531 Pictured

In the process of continuously strengthening the armament of the new army, Zuo Menggeng discovered an interesting phenomenon.

Because of the existence of a cheater like him, the weapons of the new army have almost a generation difference of one or two hundred years compared with their contemporaries.

This certainly allowed the new army to form a crushing trend on the battlefield, but this generational gap made Zuo Menggeng see a different opportunity.

It is entirely possible to take advantage of this generation difference to carry out lucrative arms trade, thereby obtaining military, political, and economic benefits for the side.

This is true of the flintlock gun that Wu Jiang and others gave to Mang Gurtai, and the same is true of the Napoleon M1841 six-pound field gun in front of Zheng Zhilong.

As the ceiling in the front-mounted smoothbore gun, the Napoleon gun was born at an untimely time.

In addition to only shining in the American Civil War, it was quickly replaced by freshly baked breech-loading guns.

Of course, the Napoleon Cannon had nothing to do with France, nor did it have anything to do with Napoleon.

This is actually an American cannon.

Because of the use of gunpowder, even the heavy artillery of the new army, which is also a front-mounted smoothbore gun, still far surpasses the Napoleon gun.

As a lightweight bronze cannon, the Napoleon cannon is easy to produce, powerful, and easy to transport. For the army of this era, it definitely has great appeal.

Therefore, when Zuo Menggeng was preparing to attack Songjiang Mansion, in order to avoid Zheng Zhilong's interference, he sacrificed the Napoleon Cannon, not believing that Zheng Zhilong would not take the bait.

Just this summer, the Ming Dynasty headed by Zheng Zhilong will fight the Dutch colonists in the battle of Liuluo Bay that will be engraved in history.

Zheng Zhilong must be aware of the strength of the Dutch.

Under such circumstances, with the blessing of a cannon with superior performance, I believe Zheng Zhilong will definitely agree to the conditions.

After all, although Songjiang Mansion is good, it is not within Zheng Zhilong's sphere of influence.

Although he is now the chief soldier of the Ming Dynasty, he obviously does not have much loyalty to the Ming Dynasty, and in the face of huge interests, he will not go against Zuo Menggeng.

The Napoleon cannon completely conquered the Zheng Group.

"Brother, with thirty guns like this, we will surely win."

Zheng Zhihu didn't know too many twists and turns. As the top general of Zheng's group, he only knew that this new type of artillery must be equipped on his ship.

Unlike the simple-minded Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhilong has more to weigh.

For a while, there was no words.

Liao Zhongjian smiled slightly and decided to overweight.

Under his signal, the gunners began to disassemble the artillery in public.

They saw that they opened the iron rings that fixed the gun ears with a few strokes, and the gun barrel weighing hundreds of kilograms was easily removed.

Then there is the gun carriage, which the gunners disengage from the wheels with a slight lift.

In the blink of an eye, what was originally a good artillery piece became full of spare parts.

Everyone in the Zheng family was dumbfounded, and at the same time, their eyeballs were also red.

Of course they understand what this kind of artillery that can be disassembled quickly means.

"Big brother..."

Zheng Zhibao couldn't sit still.

Liao Zhongjian put forward one last tempting condition.

"If an official needs it, Shandong can also specialize in building artillery for ships."

This sentence became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

No matter how careful Zheng Zhilong was, he couldn't refuse.

"Brother Zuo's meaning of fist and fist is within the five inscriptions. But I don't know how much this cannon is worth?"

Liao Zhongjian stretched out two fingers.

"The first official is my best friend in Shandong. The general ordered me to treat him with sincerity."

Zheng Zhilong frowned.

Two thousand taels of silver per cannon, this price is actually very fair.But what made him think about it was that this price was exactly the same as the toll charged by Zheng.

Zuo Menggeng really has no other purpose?
Liao Zhongjian's next sentence let him know that there are not many choices.

"This is a small cannon. I'm afraid it won't be able to handle the powerful cannons of the Dutch. If an official needs it, we can provide heavy cannons in Shandong."

In the commotion of the crowd, Zheng Zhilong knew that this business had to be done.

This small cannon is already so extraordinary, if there are heavy cannons of the same quality, he is confident that he can defeat the Dutch in one battle.

At that time, the price paid on the artillery can be easily earned back by virtue of the advantage of controlling the waterway.

"What is the price of the heavy artillery?"

Liao Zhongjian emphasized the difficulties.

"An official is also an expert. It is not easy to forge a cannon. It is definitely not a deliberate blackmail by Shandong."

Zheng Zhilong nodded, believing in his sincerity.

The scrap rate of artillery casting in this era is quite high.Even in Europe, if you can cast ten heavy cannons and succeed in two or three, you are already a top craftsman.

Therefore, the price of artillery does not depend solely on the cost of one gun.

This is also the reason why the price of artillery remains high.

Liao Zhongjian stretched out five fingers, while secretly complaining.

"The commander's heart is really dark!"

Five thousand taels of silver seems to be the market price of heavy artillery, and with the quality of Napoleon artillery, it seems absolutely conscientious.

But in fact, Shandong has already achieved great breakthroughs in the casting process of artillery.

In particular, the application of internal mold water-cooling technology ensures the same cooling speed of the inner and outer tubes of the cannon, which greatly reduces the scrap rate of the cannon.

Even a twelve-pound Napoleon gun cost only eight hundred and thirty-five taels of silver.

The huge profits of the arms trade can be imagined.

Zheng Zhilong didn't know what was tricky, and he didn't have any objections to the offer.

But he was still stumped.

One hundred six-pound guns and thirty twelve-pound guns cost a total of three hundred and fifty thousand taels of silver.

For Zheng Zhilong today, it will definitely hurt his muscles and bones.

But the threat of the Dutch is imminent. Once they lose, no matter how much money they have, it will be cheaper for others.

How to negotiate the price?

He thought about it and thought of a way.

"I don't know if I can barter? I have rare treasures from all over the world here. Can I make up the money?"

What Liao Zhongjian was waiting for was now.

"I have a way to get the best of both worlds."

Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be more careful.

"Appreciate further details."

Liao Zhongjian pointed to the east.

"It is said that the Dongying shogunate wants to ban the sea and cut off trade. The person who can communicate with it in the future may be an official. An official also knows that my Shandong produces a lot and needs to be sold abroad. I don't know if the land of Dongying can ask Is Shandong open?"

Zheng Zhilong's face immediately turned cold.

Dongying's market has long been regarded as forbidden by him, how can he allow others to get involved?
This time the conflict with the Dutch was actually related to the ban on the sea by the shogunate.

It has long been rumored that Dongying will only do business with one or two companies in the future, and it will be limited to Hirado and Nagasaki.

In other words, whoever wins, he or the Dutch, will occupy this trade route.

Now Zuo Menggeng wants a third party to intervene, which is equivalent to touching the reverse scale of the dragon.

Seeing that Zheng Zhilong wanted to turn his face, Liao Zhongjian hastily explained.

"The glass business that was handed over to an official before, the practice will not change. Shandong sells other goods, and does not set foot in Hirado and Nagasaki, only trades with the Tsushima domain. And each ship is taxed as usual."

When he said this, Zheng Zhilong's expression softened immediately.

"I knew Brother Zuo's benevolence and righteousness earlier, and seeing him today, I am deeply moved. Doing business with Brother Zuo is a joy, hahahahaha..."

During the Tokugawa shogunate era, there were two places where foreign trade was possible.

One is Hirado, which is Nagasaki;
Another place is Tsushima Fan.

The Hirado Domain was in charge of trade with Southeast Asia, while the Tsushima Domain was in charge of trade with North Korea.

Compared with his Hirado clan, the Tsushima clan has no sense of existence in Zheng Zhilong's eyes.

(End of this chapter)