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Text Section 43 Jing Nan (Part 1)

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    Ningyuan's Hongyi cannon was originally a naval gun. It was removed from the ship and used as a fortress cannon.  The quality of these cannons is average and they are very old. They are not even as good as the red cannons imitated by Kong Youde.  Anlesi knew that Deng Ming was not interested at all in the ten Hongyi cannons with astonishing weight, but it was good to sell them to these rich men as treasures for their houses. Anlesi carefully dressed up these cannons when they were shipped.  , beautifully made up and displayed to the leaders of the gentry.

    After a round of bargaining, Anles sold the ten Hongyi cannons for more than 40,000 taels of silver.

    When the two British guys were enjoying the glory, the two guys were very excited and kept talking: "How can this old cannon be sold for so much money? Boss An, let's cooperate in the future. Let's go to the Dutch to get the cannon."  , you are responsible for selling it.¡±

    "It's okay, but I only want the huge naval guns, and I don't want the small and lightweight guns." Anlesi heard Deng Ming say that all naval guns are not suitable to be dismantled and used by the army as field guns, and Deng Ming  Ming hopes to be able to produce field guns by itself, so that the military can also put forward various technical requirements to arms dealers as needed.  Even if Anlesi can produce lighter artillery with a higher rate of fire in the future, these old moneymen probably won¡¯t take a fancy to it. Even if they do, the Imperial Council probably won¡¯t agree to sell advanced artillery to them.  At least Anles, who is an imperial councilor, has no such intention.

    The shopkeeper who stayed in Huzhou told Anlesi that his trading company in Sichuan was producing flintlock muskets at full speed.  The last news sent said that by April, Chengdu's monthly output of flintlock guns is estimated to reach about 120 pieces.  After seeing that even the rifles in Zhejiang for two months have been booked out, the partners of Anlesi estimate that they will continue to seek bank loans to further expand production.  Loans are now very easy for Anlesi's arms firm. Several bankers selling bonds in the southeast have noticed the hot sales of rifles. Yu Youming, Feng Ziming and others have written to the shopkeeper of Anlesi,  Offer to invest in their arms store.

    "I got rich again this year. It's true that good people are rewarded." Anlesi felt that the future was bright. The reason for getting rich this time was inseparable from his active response to Deng Ming's call. If he hadn't spent his own money to study Deng Ming,  The weapons he needs, such a good thing is not his turn: "After returning to the capital, we will immediately start researching light artillery."

    ¡­¡­

    At this time, Anlesi didn¡¯t know that Hangzhou was mentioning his name repeatedly.  Zhang Tao, the Zhejiang consul appointed by Deng Ming, was called to the governor's office. When he heard that the government wanted to buy rifles, he shook his head: "I can't agree to this kind of thing, Governor Zhao. Don't say I can't agree. It's just Baoguo Gong who said it."  It doesn¡¯t count.¡±

    "Didn't Duke Baoguo say he was neutral? Why did he sell Zhuang Yuncheng's rifles but refused to sell them to us? Can this be called neutrality?" Songkui became anxious when he heard this.

    Now the northern part of Zhejiang is in chaos, and the eastern part is about to collapse. If the Jin gentry all unite, their army will be larger than the green camp in the province.  In the past, the Green Camp could rely on armor and organization to defeat a large mob, but now that the Jin gentry had rifles, the Green Camp could not defeat them with the same number of people, let alone be at a disadvantage. If this continues, how could Zhuang Yuncheng be persuaded to stop Qingjun's side?  , come back to the negotiating table?

    "We strictly adhere to neutrality by not sending troops into Zhejiang and not intervening in the civil war between Governor Zhao and Mr. Zhuang. But the weapons are not sold by Baoguo Gong, nor are they produced by Baoguo Gong. As far as I know, all the weapons in Chengdu are now  Rifles are produced by a boss named An Lesi and several of his fellow small shareholders. Even if Baoguo Gong wants a rifle, he needs to buy it from Boss An and pay money." Zhang Tao said  It took Zhao Guozuo and his team a long time to figure out the current weapons procurement mechanism in Chengdu: "The Imperial Parliament can prohibit merchants from selling weapons to a certain person, but it cannot force merchants to sell weapons to a certain buyer."

    "Are we among the prohibited ones?" Zhou Peigong asked. After hearing about the power of the rifles, he was also a little tempted and wanted to buy a batch for his Yangtze River Deng Suppression Corps.

    "I don't know, I haven't received instructions yet." Sichuan has never sold arms to outsiders before, so the parliament has never considered invoking this law, but Zhang Tao estimates that the imperial parliament may already be discussing the matter.

    "If Lord Baoguo doesn't prohibit Boss An from selling rifles to us, will Boss An sell the rifles to us?" Zhou Peigong asked relentlessly.

    "You have to ask Boss An about this. I can't decide for him." Zhang Tao smiled friendly.

    The Zhejiang Governor¡¯s Office was not the only one who was shocked by the power of the rifle. After learning that Zhuang Yuncheng had won consecutive battles, Zhang Tao found that he had seriously underestimated the power of this new weapon at first.  Not long ago, Zhang Tao sent a letter to Deng Ming, strongly recommending that Deng Ming replace the Sichuan army with this new weapon as soon as possible, and strictly prohibit rifles from flowing into the Qing court's yamen, even the Yangtze River Suppression Prime Minister Deng's yamen, which is the most friendly to the Sichuan army.?No.

    Although Zhang Tao did not say it clearly, Zhao Guozuo and others were not fools, so they could naturally see that the other party was not sincere.

    Unexpectedly, Zhang Tao took the initiative to visit them the next day. As soon as he entered the door, Consul Zhang said with a smile: "I received a letter from Duke Bao last night. Duke Bao gave me clear instructions to sell rifles to you.  , about three hundred taels a piece."

    "Three hundred taels each." Zhao Guozuo's face suddenly darkened: "This is enough to buy a cannon."

    The cost of the imitation red cannons of San Francisco and the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty is about two hundred taels, and the cheaper Tiger Crouching Cannon may only cost dozens of taels.

    "The production is limited. Besides, Mr. Zhuang and the others have already paid two hundred taels of silver each, and have prepaid all the rifles within five months." Zhang Tao spread his hands with a smile: "If Governor Zhao doesn't send an envoy now,  , you may not be able to buy even three hundred taels in a few months."

    The instruction given by Deng Ming was that if the Hangzhou government was willing to pay an astonishing price to buy rifles, it could be sold to them, because as long as Hangzhou was willing to pay a high price, it was impossible not to buy it, and some Jin gentry might even help the government purchase it;  If giving Hangzhou a rifle would make it lose the ability to support ten to twenty soldiers, the deal would not be impossible. After all, Zhao Guozuo would definitely not be able to win against the gentry in the province by fighting for their financial resources.  Moreover, Zhao Guozuo could not buy a gun just to defend the city like the Jin gentry. If he wanted to regain control of the prefectures and counties, he would need to take the initiative. Then he would need to spend more money to train troops, and Deng Ming would definitely not  Instructors were sent to the Hangzhou government.

    "We have no money." Songkui felt that the price needed to be cut by 90% to be reasonable. Even buying a rifle for thirty taels was very expensive.  Now Zhejiang has to deliver water transport to Beijing, compensate Fujian, and train troops to suppress Zhuang Yuncheng. The Governor's Yamen may go bankrupt at any time.

    "Yes, I have no money." Zhao Guozuo also began to bargain: "At most fifty taels a piece. Ordinarily, if we buy more, it should be cheaper."

    "This is the price of the rifle. No matter how cheap it is, it can't be less than 200 taels. If it's only 200 taels, why does Boss An have to sell it to you?" Zhang Tao changed the subject and talked about another item Deng Ming told him.  Question: "Since you can't afford a rifle, then consider the blunderbuss. This kind of gun is about as powerful as a rifle, but it is very cheap, only thirty taels per piece."

    "Thirty taels and three hundred taels, it's impossible for them to be about the same power, right?" Zhao Guozuo said coldly.

    "The difference is actually very limited. The range is at least 80% of that of a rifle, and the power is more than 70%. Rifles are actually used to deceive wealthy people. Those who really know the goods would rather use a blunderbuss." Although it is an exaggeration, Zhang Tao also  It's not completely unreliable.  However, he did not mention the issues of training difficulty, rate of fire and loading difficulty: "Another arms dealer in Chengdu is very interested in this business. They guarantee that they can provide the Governor with 10,000 high-quality, non-exploding muskets every year.  .¡±

    The trading houses in Chengdu assured Deng Ming that if the arms business continued to prosper, they would launch a new and improved rifle with a price of less than 3,000 yuan within six months.  Of course, this price is only valid for imperial troops and fellow warriors.  After hearing this, Deng Ming began to think about replacing all the old matchlock guns in the hands of the Sichuan army and fellow scholars with rifles in half a year.  He would not do it if Deng Ming was asked to pay for a rifle. If the Imperial Parliament was asked to pay for it, he would have to raise taxes, which was not in line with Deng Ming's thinking.  Now there are thousands of matchlocks of various types in Sichuan - so Deng Ming planned to carry out a trade-in operation. Every fellow scholar in Sichuan could exchange their old matchlocks for a brand-new flintlock gun, and the old ones that were eliminated  Let Zhao Guozuo take over the gun.

    A batch of matchlock guns should also be confiscated in Burma. Deng Ming planned to sell these old guns to the governor of the southeast to earn some money to replenish the Sichuan Army's armament warehouse and increase the inventory of rifles.

    "Ten thousand blunderbuss is equivalent to 300,000 taels of silver, and I can't afford it." Zhao Guozuo knew that it would cost a lot of money to train. If the blunderbuss could be used without training, the Ming army would not be so fond of the three blunderbuss.  Eyesight.

    "It doesn't matter if you don't have money. Boss Yu from Chengdu Industrial Bank is on his way to Hangzhou. As long as Governor Zhao nods, he is willing to help Governor Zhao pay the deposit. When the gun arrives, he can also lend money to Governor Zhao for you.  If you have enough money, buy all these firecrackers."

    "What does Boss Yu want?" Zhao Guozuo asked warily.

    "Boss Yu wants to cooperate with Governor Zhao to do some business. The cost of the first batch of one thousand cannons will be counted as Boss Yu's stock capital. From now on, a batch of cannons will be given to Governor Zhao every month, which will be considered as dividends to Governor Zhao.  "

    "What business are you doing?" The alert look on Zhao Guozuo's face did not diminish.

    "Of course it's a coastal business."

    "Don't you know that the forbidden sea has been moved to another boundary?" Songkui was surprised when he heard this.Di asked rhetorically.

    "Of course we know, and we also know that there is no tax in these areas." Zhang Tao laughed: "Governor Zhao is holding a golden rice bowl and begging for food. Boss Yu can pay to manage the land in the forbidden sea area, including farming, fishing, and maritime trade.  It's all about the boss paying for it and taking risks, without giving Governor Zhao a copper coin. No matter how well the business is going, I guarantee that Governor Zhao will have a weapon to draw from, how about that?"
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