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Volume E, Chapter 30: Arms Broker?

 "Caomin Zhuang Limin has met Mr. Feng."

Wearing a green shirt and long robe, he looked good-looking and could not tell that he was a merchant or workshop owner. This was Zhuang Limin's first impression of Feng Ziying, which was very good.

"Mr. Zhuang, please sit down." Feng Ziying nodded and raised her hand.

After bowing his hands and saluting, the man in blue shirt was not like some other businessmen who were flattering and shameless, but sat down calmly.

The meeting place is the Cantonese Association Hall.

In the morning, Feng Tang went to the Ministry of War and agreed to accept three thousand Rumi guns, which made Chai Ke also overjoyed.

This batch of firecrackers, which were regarded as useless by the Ministry of War, were rejected by the Shenji Battalion, and the person in charge at the time was no longer in office. Even if you want to investigate the responsibility, you can't find it. Xiao Daheng became an official, and Zhao Shizhen was dismissed. Fortunately, he was not

He was held accountable, but his whereabouts were missing.

Money is a trivial matter. More than thirty thousand taels is not a small amount, but it cannot be called a large amount. As long as someone takes over, everything will be easy, especially Feng Tang. When he goes to the Liaodong court, he will be given a large sum of money.

Now it's time to deduct it.

"The common people would like to thank the Governor for accepting this batch of Rumi guns. Otherwise, Zhuang really doesn't know how to explain to other workshop owners and owners after he returns." Zhuang Limin sighed, "This has been delayed for three or four years.

, I didn’t expect that Mr. Xiao and Mr. Zhao are no longer here, and several adults from the Ministry of War refused to take over. Fortunately, your father..."

"Mr. Zhuang, you're welcome. I came to see Mr. Zhuang today because I want to understand the causes and consequences of making this batch of firecrackers. I also have some questions to ask." Feng Ziying also got straight to the point.

"Master Feng, feel free to ask. If Zhuang knows anything, he will tell you everything." Zhuang Limin hurriedly said: "As for the origin of these guns, we actually don't know. It was Guangdong Dusi who contacted us and asked us.

Whether several workshops can make fire guns, we have never done it before, but Dusi said that there are drawings, and we only need to follow the production process of the drawings. After we saw it, we thought it could be done, so we made this

The business started, there are seven workshops in total, because we have never done it before, so we are trying to take our time, especially making gun barrels is more complicated..."

There was nothing to hide, so Zhuang Limin told the story openly.

"It's hard to get money from the Ministry of War. After you give me 10,000 taels of silver, it's even harder to ask for it later. I ran away twice, and the Ministry of War said that I won't pay the follow-up money until it's completed and accepted. There's nothing we can do.

We can only bite the bullet and carry on..."

Feng Ziying listened very carefully, "Mr. Zhuang, I would like to ask, your seven workshops have only been able to produce 3,000 pieces for four years?"

"Master Feng, you may not know much about the manufacturing method of this Lumi gun. The barrel of the gun must be made of fine iron into a rolled tube, and then drilled. This has never been done before, and a worker cannot do it in a month.

Of course, after we have done it now, we have gradually become familiar with it. We can make a gun barrel in about half a month. We are very agile and can even make three barrels in a month..."

Zhuang Limin obviously came prepared, "After taking over this job, we invited two more Western craftsmen to give guidance, and also recruited some new workers. The production technology has also made great progress. If we are asked again now

Several companies are here to make these three thousand fire blunderbuss. They can make them in a year, and the quality can be improved a lot..."

Feng Ziying laughed, she was also a shrewd person and could smell it right away.

Being able to win over such a big customer as the Governor of Ji Liao is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any merchant, especially those merchants from Guangdong and Guangxi. Who doesn't know that Liaodong is the main battlefield of the Great Zhou Dynasty?

"What about the self-made firecrackers?" Feng Ziying asked without any politeness.

"Self-generated fire gun?" Zhuang Limin hesitated for a moment and asked with some suspicion: "Master Feng, self-generated fire gun and fire gun are completely different things. Although they look similar in appearance, the rotating device is very delicate and complicated. To make one

It is very difficult. At present, we do not have the ability to make such a device, but does the imperial court really need to make its own firecrackers?"

"Why do you ask?" Feng Ziying asked with a smile: "Shouldn't the imperial court need better muskets?"

"That's not what Zhuang means. If you want to make your own fire gun, if you want to buy it from Xiyi, the price of one is at least thirty taels of silver, or even higher, and it is a used and old product. Of course, if you buy it in large quantities,

If you purchase, for example, more than 500 pieces, the price may drop slightly, but supply is very difficult. It will take at least more than a year from purchasing from Xiyi to delivering to Guangzhou. Is the imperial court willing?"

Zhuang Limin doubted whether the imperial court had this determination.

"Mr. Zhuang, do you mean that we can still purchase such self-made fire guns in Guangzhou?" Feng Ziying ignored Zhuang Wenjing's question.

"If there are thirty-five taels of silver each, Mr. Feng, if he needs it urgently, Zhuang can search for it in Guangzhou and try his best to satisfy it. The price will not exceed thirty-five taels of silver each. If it exceeds one hundred, there will be nothing you can do. You have to go to Suzhou."

There are more than 300 of them in Manila. I guess it will be difficult to purchase them in Nanyang, so we have to go to the mainland of the Western Yi people."

Zhuang Limin realized that a big deal might be coming, and he felt particularly excited.

Master Feng is definitely not asking on behalf of himself, but on behalf of his father.

It is said that when the new governor of Jiliao and the commander-in-chief of Liaodong takes office in Liaodong, the court will allocate one million taels of grain and salary to him. Even if 20 to 30% of it is used to purchase weapons, it will still be 200,000 to 300,000 taels of silver to buy Lumi guns.

It can be worth twenty to thirty thousand pieces, and even a self-made fire gun can be purchased in the thousands.

"Oh, it seems that Mr. Zhuang is very confident. He has connections not only in Guangzhou, but also in Nanyang?" Feng Ziying did not doubt the other party's ability. He was able to get involved with the former Minister of War, Xiao Daheng, and it was not easy to imagine.

generation.

This guy is not like a pure arms broker, but like a wealthy businessman who is backed by a workshop but has extensive connections in Guangdong, Guangxi and Nanyang.

Zhuang Limin laughed, knowing that his statement finally aroused the other party's interest.

"Master Feng, other Zhuangs don't dare to boast, but in this regard, Zhuang still dares to pat his chest. In the past, the imperial court needed weapons such as swords and guns. If the war bureau was too late, Zhuang would be responsible for it.

He worked for the imperial court, and later on, Zhuang also made three-eyed muskets and target guns for the imperial court. Foshan's iron smelting production is world-famous, and cannot be compared with the capital city. I believe you have heard of this."

Zhuang Limin's face was full of pride, "As for the secrets, Zhuang can say that in Nanyang and Japan, Zhuang can still speak. If you are in urgent need of this kind of Rumi gun, Zhuang can even go there."

Japan is purchasing Japanese bird gun for you, and the quality is not inferior to this batch of Lumi gun. Two to three thousand can be purchased for you within half a year, but the price may be a little more expensive."

"You mean that we, the Zhou Dynasty, are not as good as the Japanese in terms of our ability to make such firecrackers?" Feng Ziying asked.

"That's not true. The Japanese are still strengthening their military equipment after the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. Their emperor doesn't seem to care about things very much. The powerful Tokugawa generals are not able to completely control the whole of Japan. Some of the generals below don't seem to be too well.

Convinced, they are all purchasing weapons, and bird guns are also the most important part of them. And we, Zhou Dynasty, pay more attention to cannons, but we don’t pay much attention to fire guns. The original three-eyed guns and clip-on target guns were purchased.

It was seven or eight years ago. In the past few years, there was only this batch of Lumi guns. It was also four years ago. Of course, I don’t know if the Bingzhan Bureau of the capital made them. I guess even if they did, the number would not be large.

The quality is worse.”

Zhuang Limin's frank answer gave Feng Ziying an intuitive comparison of the firearms production capabilities of China and Japan. "You mean that the Japanese mainly have internal disputes, so they have been continuously purchasing and making firecrackers, while the Zhou Dynasty mainly has no demand."

, but be able to quickly expand production scale and capabilities if necessary?”

"Well, I dare not say that in other places. If the court's demand in Foshan can continue, many workshops can quickly purchase equipment and recruit craftsmen and apprentices to switch to production of this kind of Lumi gun. As long as there are blueprints, it is actually not difficult. There is no need.

It's just that the time and quality required for production are different, but if we really continue to produce, these differences can be slowly made up within a year or two."

Feng Ziying looked at Zhuang Limin, her eyes a little more probing and curious, "Mr. Zhuang, your identity makes me very curious. Can you tell me whether you are engaged in business or running a workshop?"

Zhuang Limin also stood up with a smile and bowed formally, "It is a great honor for Zhuang to have Xiao Feng Xiuzuan, who has come up with the strategy to open up the sea, value him so much. The largest Lao Zhuang Ji Ironworks in Foshan is Zhuang's property. In addition, Zhuang is in Guangzhou."

There are also twenty ships. This time, the sea trade Zhuang has paid a ten-year charter fee, and the Guangzhou Zhuangji Warehouse is also owned by the Zhuang family."

No wonder, he is a big player in industry and trade, and he is also a maritime businessman, so it is normal for him to be able to connect with Xiao Daheng.

"Well, it turns out that Mr. Zhuang is also a maritime merchant, and he also has an iron smelting workshop. The business of more than 30,000 taels of silver should not be of much interest to Mr. Zhuang." Feng Ziying nodded slightly.

Guangzhou's current trade status has gradually surpassed that of Ningbo and Quanzhou. Its special geographical location makes it more advantageous when facing Nanyang trade. However, once Ningbo and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are completely liberalized, especially the trade with Japan and North Korea is opened, plus the East

There are still some variables in the development of Ningbo and Quanzhou. After all, Ningbo and Quanzhou directly face the hinterland of Jiangnan.

"The business of three hundred taels of silver is also a living." Zhuang Limin shook his head, looking at Feng Ziying with clear eyes, "What's more, Zhuang also hopes to maintain this business. Zhuang believes that someone in the court will eventually see the firearms in the army.

The Central Committee is becoming more and more important."


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