Liu Chang seemed to have never expected that Count Demons had dropped four hundred silver dollars in a row, and hesitated for a moment: "Count Demons..."

But the wife Ye admired Liu Chang's method. She had been trading with Desmond for more than a year, and she had to bargain with Desmonds every time. The final transaction price was still much higher than the price in the Shanghai Concession.

But today the sun came out from the west. Although each rifle was about ten silver dollars higher than the retail price of the Shanghai Concession, Demons sincerely wanted to reach this big deal with Liu Chang.

She knew Liu Chang's background. She had only a little strength in total, so she could not have a large order of hundreds of thousands of silver dollars. The old fox, Demons, was trapped by him.

But then she almost jumped up, not only because of the price reduction of Demons: "Your Excellency Liu Jiandian, in order to show my personal sincerity, I am willing to give away fifteen barrels of red powder and five barrels of saltpeter in addition to fifty barrels of granular gunpowder."

For the sake of these fifteen barrels of red pinks, Ge Mengjin bargained with Demons for more than an hour, but in the end he failed to reach a price that both sides were satisfied with. However, Mrs. Ye was very envious of these fifteen barrels of red pinks.

Red powder is sulfur, and the creation of black gunpowder is indispensable, but in this era, it is relatively difficult to obtain a large amount of sulfur.

Even in peacetime, sulfur, as a military material, was still strictly controlled. Now during the war, sulfur is the first-class controlled material.

There was no sulfur ore in the controlled area of ​​the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Therefore, from the rise of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom to the fall of Tianjing, we have been suffering from the inability to obtain enough high-quality sulfur and can only obtain a small amount of sulfur through smuggling.

On the coast of Zhejiang and Fujian, sulfur is also difficult to obtain. For example, there is no sulfur mine in Zhejiang Province (the Suichang Suiyan Mine was established nearly 100 years later in 1942). In order to make black gunpowder, the Eight Banners of Zhejiang Province must import about 3,600 kilograms of sulfur every year.

Now, in order to prevent the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom from using smuggling methods to obtain sulfur, the sulfur control along the coast has reached an extremely strict level. In this case, Ge Mengjin and Ye Niangzi's fleets were also suffering from the shortage of black gunpowder.

The black gunpowder made by Westerners is indeed of great quality, but the price is too expensive. Ge Mengjin is willing to use granular gunpowder only when it is most critical, and usually uses homemade black gunpowder.

There is no shortage of charcoal, and saltpeter can barely find a way, but sulfur really can't think of a good way. Mrs. Ye was preparing to increase the price to grab these red pinks this time, but she didn't expect that Demons would send it directly.

She was so envious, but she couldn't ruin Liu Chang's good things, and she couldn't help but feel angry.

These fifteen barrels of high-quality sulfur are enough to prepare three thousand kilograms of black gunpowder, which is enough for Ge Mengjin's fleet to take two or three years.

As for the five barrels of saltpeter included, it is also a top-notch product. Although it can be obtained by the people to reprocess a certain amount of soil and nitrate, the quality is much worse after all, and the process is too cumbersome. These five barrels of saltpeter can also come in handy at all times.

Mrs. Ye even calculated that if these twenty barrels of gifts were included, the transaction price of Liu Chang and Demons was cheaper than the 4.5 silver dollars each barrel that her husband and his wife had worked hard to cut.

But she almost couldn't stop talking. Today, the degree of Demons' price reduction seemed to be too high: "Only Liu Jiandian, I have brought a lot of medicine, fire hats and spare parts this time, and I am willing to charge only one cost price."

The medicine can be solved by casting lead bullets by itself, but the firing gun has a big flaw, that is, there must be a fire hat for firing. Without a fire hat, the gun is equivalent to a fire stick.

If you want to create a qualified fire hat in this time and space, it is equivalent to another time and space creating a fourth-generation machine. It requires a complete industrial system. Demons brought 10,000 fire hats and various spare parts such as bullets and strips. He offered a very low price: "Just add another 400 taels, these things are yours!"

"Ok!" Liu Chang was very satisfied: "Ok!"

He could see that Demons' price was not much profit. After all, this place was not Shanghai, but the banned arms deal at Oujiangkou. If it was captured by the Qing customs and the green camp soldiers, Demons would not only be ruined, but also completely bankrupt.

Desmond also felt that although his price cut was almost crazy, the entire transaction was still full of profits. He sold 2,400 silver dollars of arms to Liu Chang, including the depreciation and labor costs of the sailboat, and the total cost would not exceed 1,200 silver dollars.

This is a very good deal, but he is more interested in the larger order: "Are you satisfied with my price? You can't find a second arms agent that offers such a discount. I can provide more quality arms to arm your army. Even if your army has so many three infantry brigades, I can raise enough arms at the first time!"

Liu Chang expressed satisfaction: "Although the price is slightly higher than the Shanghai Concession, I am satisfied with the price of the arms you provide."

"So, Your Excellency Liu Jiandian, can we talk about our follow-up orders? Especially the deposit issue."

Liu Chang said immediately: "First of all, I need a large number of rifles to arm my three infantry battalions, preferably Minni rifles. If the Minni rifles cannot be found, they can be replaced by firing guns. The auxiliary troops can use flintlock smoothbore rifles. I hope to obtain these rifles in the shortest time."

"Secondly, I need to arm my artillery company with enough field guns. Please provide at least eight field guns, and I need a qualified artillery consultant. By the way, I need a thousand shells per gun, preferably with flowering bullets."

"I need a lot of engineering and weapons equipment and medicines, and it would be even better if I hire a Western doctor."

"In addition, since I will fight the Qing army in Wenzhou Prefecture, I need a large amount of ammunition, at least 300 barrels of granular gunpowder, and 300,000 fire hats for my firing gun."

Liu Chang spoke fluently, but Niang Ye felt like she wanted to expose him.

He only had the strength of two infantry companies, and he consumed no more than 10,000 silver dollars of arms, but the foreigner really believed it: "I only have such a ship, and I can't transport so many arms at one time." Demons raised his own difficulties: "And so much arms, I must have some time to raise the supply of goods."

Liu Chang told him: "Then you can ship it in batches, but time doesn't wait for anyone. I believe that within a few months, there will definitely be anti-smuggling ships for Qing Yao in the Zhoushan Islands."

Demons confirmed that he had found a unique way to make money, and what he needed was a race against time: "I will meet your needs as soon as possible, I will hang the British flag and avoid nearshore sailing, and... are you paying a deposit now?"

His eyes were fixed on the ten gold ingots in Liu Chang's hand, which were five hundred pounds!

Liu Chang has replied to him: "Given that although your price is satisfying me, I cannot provide enough military supplies at one time, so I will pay a deposit of 600 silver dollars."

This time he brought three thousand silver dollars, and used two thousand four hundred silver dollars to pay the payment, leaving six hundred silver dollars: "But given our happy cooperation, I will pay twenty taels of gold as a deposit."

Demons blurted out: "Give two more!"

He was referring to these ten-two-type gold ingots, and Liu Chang nodded: "Then let's get five of them together! Fifty-two gold."

Demons, who had harvested three thousand silver dollars and fifty taels of gold, was in a good mood: "Then let's start trading officially!"

He could not wait to rush back to Shanghai and organize a large supply of goods.

My heart has set sail.

;
Chapter completed!