Ming Zuo

Chapter 779 Li Zicheng's Ambition
Li Zicheng's heart beat like thunder when he saw Zheng Jiada manipulating the musket and smashing the fifty-step target covered with cotton armor to pieces.

He had never seen such sharp firearms in all the years of fighting.

wrong!

During the fierce battle on the banks of the Huaihe River, the firearms of the new army seemed to be even more powerful than this.

"Director Zheng, this seems to be slightly different from the muskets used by your army."

Zheng Jiada smiled frankly.

"The musket used by our army is the hero of the world, so naturally it cannot be exposed. For General Chuang, this gun is enough."

What he said frankly made Li Zicheng not angry at all.

Li Zicheng asked himself, if he had something good, he would not give it to others.

As for the guns brought by Zheng Jiada, although they are far inferior to the new army, they are more than enough to deal with the Ming army as long as they do not fight the new army.

Li Zicheng took the musket from Zheng Jiada's hand, and stroked it carefully from the beginning to the end, as if seeing a peerless beauty.

"What is the price of this gun?"

He has already begun to fantasize about the situation where his subordinates are equipped with such magical weapons to traverse the Central Plains and defeat the Ming army.

If you can't beat the Shandong New Army, you can't beat it.

From now on, he does not intend to set foot in Shandong and Huaihe River again.

As the bitter master of the old Zhu's family, he would be satisfied if he could trouble Daming.

As for whether he and Da Ming would be taken advantage of by Shandong in the future, Li Zicheng couldn't care less.

In other words, today's Li Zicheng doesn't have such big ambitions, and he feels that he can win the world.

After all, even in the rebel army, he is not outstanding.

In front of him were Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui and others, and it was not his turn.

"The muskets made in the Ming Dynasty cost about three taels of silver each. The ones produced in Shandong are even more sophisticated and expensive. If King Chuang is interested, each musket will cost four taels of silver, with ten rounds of bullets and a pot of gunpowder."

Hearing Zheng Jiada's offer, Li Zicheng pondered for a while, thinking it was quite reasonable.

"In that case, give us a thousand, and triple the bullets and gunpowder."

The bullets and gunpowder donated by Shandong were obviously not enough, and Li Zicheng didn't know when he would be able to trade with Shandong again in the future, so he planned to buy enough at one time.

For his needs, Zheng Jiada fully agreed.

As for weapons, Shandong can produce as much as they want, and it has even reached the point where it has become a burden.

The cost spent on weapon manufacturing every year has already accounted for a large part of the income.

Therefore, other administrative departments have complained a lot, and have repeatedly proposed to reduce the number of weapons manufactured.

Zuo Menggeng was also under tremendous pressure.

Therefore, I have been thinking about how to use the arms trade to balance the balance of payments.

When fighting against the Northwest Rebels this time, he made a plan, and it was enough to stop fighting to a certain extent.Send relevant personnel to contact the Northwest Rebels to see if they can sell weapons to them.

Of course, Zhang Xianzhong was definitely not included in this.

It's really that this guy is too vicious, wherever he goes, he destroys wherever he goes, even a thousand cuts can't make up for his evil deeds.

In comparison, Li Zicheng's style is undoubtedly much better, and he is also Zuo Menggeng's designated partner for cooperation.

Initial contact, the effect is good.

Li Zicheng couldn't put it down just because of the musket.

But when Zheng Jiada's men opened the wooden box and assembled the contents inside, Li Zicheng realized that muskets were nothing.

With one shot, the world fell apart.

Li Zicheng's eyes turned red seeing that the small cannon with two big wheels in front of him could hit three miles away, and it could also completely destroy thick walls and big trees.

The reason why their Northwest Rebels were displaced and unable to gain a foothold was because they lacked sharp weapons to destroy cities and villages.

Facing the strong city, they have nothing to do.

But the resources are basically in the city. If you can't break the city, you can't develop and grow, and you can only be rogues.

If you have this kind of firearms, and the city wall collapses in one shot, why are you afraid of the Ming army?
Of course Li Zicheng could see that the power of the artillery brought by Zheng Jiada could never be compared with that used by the new army.

Not to mention that the shot was not so far away, the shell was just an iron ball, unlike the artillery of the new army, which exploded a large area.

But Zheng Jiada has already said that good things are obviously not delivered.

And such artillery is completely enough for the rebels.

"How many guns like this are there? We want them all."

Zheng Jiada chuckled, but Li Zicheng was embarrassed by what he said.

"Cannon is not easy to cast, and it is far from being comparable to muskets. Such a cannon requires four thousand taels of silver, not counting shells and gunpowder."

Li Zicheng was terrified, and he didn't expect such a sky-high price.

But he has seen the power of artillery, and it is not an exaggeration to say that one cannon can be worth a thousand.

Can four thousand taels of silver alone stop thousands of troops?
Obviously not.

But artillery does.

Li Zicheng will still settle this account.

"Then give us thirty doors."

Thirty cannons with ammunition, plus a thousand muskets and ammunition, have consumed all the wealth that Li Zicheng has plundered over the years.

But Li Zicheng didn't care.

He knows very well that after these weapons are in hand, the wealth that can be grabbed will only be more.

And with these things, the ranking among the rebels might have to change.

He, Li Zicheng, no longer needs to be someone's vassal, he is a mountain top, and he has to be ranked high.

Yes, Li Zicheng did not intend to tell others about the transaction with the Xinjun, nor did he want others to know that there was such a way.

Even his uncle Gao Yingxiang is no exception.

People's ambitions change with time and status.

At the beginning, everyone shared weal and woe, and the situation was precarious. For this uncle, Li Zicheng could only follow him willingly.

But now that his climate has been established and his troops are strong, he wants to seek more.

Zheng Jiada could see his little thoughts clearly, but he didn't care.

"That's good, it's a deal. After three days, we will still be trading here."

Li Zicheng made a high-five oath with him, signed a contract, and returned with a gift full of joy.

Li Zicheng was careful enough to avoid irrelevant eyes and ears, and only told the matter to Li Guo, Li Jin and other cronies.

The generals of the Chuang army were very excited when they learned that they would get the magic weapon, and their hatred for Shandong was also reduced a lot.

Li Guo and Li Jin even started arguing, both wanting to arm these weapons under their command.

In the end, Li Zicheng made the decision and arranged for Li Jin.

It's not that he trusts Li Jin more, but because Li Jin leads his personal guards.

In any case, Li Zicheng cannot allow a powerful force to be out of sight and out of control.

As for Liang Yue.

Li Zicheng knew that he had a blood feud with Zuo Menggeng.

I don't know how Liang Yue should feel when he heard about this matter, he hesitated for a while, so he could only warn everyone to hide it for the time being.

(End of this chapter)