Li Zicheng's heart beat like thunder when he saw with his own eyes that Zheng Jiada was operating a musket and beating a target covered in cotton armor fifty paces away.
After fighting for so many years, he had never seen such a sharp firearm.
wrong!
During the fierce battle on the banks of the Huaihe River, the New Army's firearms seemed to be even more powerful than this.
"Director Zheng, this seems to be slightly different from the musket used by your army."
Zheng Jiada smiled calmly.
"The muskets used by our army are the best in the world, so naturally they cannot be exposed. For generals, this gun is enough."
His frankness gave Li Zicheng nothing to be angry about.
Li Zicheng asked himself, if he had something good, he would not give it to others.
As for the muskets brought by Zheng Jiada, although they are far inferior to those of the new army, as long as they do not fight with the new army, they are more than enough to deal with the Ming army.
Li Zicheng took the musket from Zheng Jiada's hand and stroked it carefully from head to tail, as if he had seen a peerless beauty.
"What's the price of this gun?"
He had already begun to imagine that his subordinates were equipped with such magical weapons and were traveling across the Central Plains, defeating the Ming army to the point of losing their armor.
If you can't defeat the Shandong New Army, you can't defeat it.
From now on, he does not plan to set foot in Shandong and the Huaihe River again.
As the mistress of the Lao Zhu family, he was satisfied if he could cause trouble for Daming.
As for whether Shandong would take advantage of him if he and Ming fought until both sides lost in the future, Li Zicheng no longer cared so much.
In other words, Li Zicheng today is not so ambitious and feels that he can dominate the world.
After all, even among the rebels, he is not outstanding.
There were Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui and others in front of him, but it was not his turn.
"The muskets made by the Ming Dynasty cost about three taels each. The ones we made in Shandong are even more sophisticated and cost a lot of money. If King Chuang is interested, each musket costs four taels of silver, and comes with ten rounds of bullets and a pot of gunpowder."
After hearing Zheng Jiada's quotation, Li Zicheng pondered for a while and felt it was quite reasonable.
"In that case, give us a thousand more, and triple the bullets and gunpowder."
The bullets and gunpowder donated by Shandong were obviously not enough. Li Zicheng did not know when he would be able to trade with Shandong again in the future, so he planned to buy enough at once.
Zheng Jiada fully agreed to his needs.
Weapons can only be produced in Shandong as much as they want, and now they have even become a burden.
The annual cost spent on weapons manufacturing has accounted for a large part of the revenue.
Therefore, other administrative departments have complained a lot and repeatedly proposed reducing the number of weapons manufacturing.
Zuo Mengeng also endured tremendous pressure.
Therefore, I have been thinking about how to use arms trade to balance the balance of payments.
When he fought against the Northwest Rebels this time, he made a plan to stop fighting when the fighting reaches a certain level. He sent relevant personnel to contact the Northwest Rebels to see if he could sell weapons to them.
Of course, this does not include Zhang Xianzhong.
This guy is really too evil. He wreaks havoc wherever he goes. Even cutting him to pieces cannot make up for his evil deeds.
In comparison, Li Zicheng's style is undoubtedly much better, and he is also Zuo Mengeng's designated partner.
Initial contact, the effect is good.
Just the musket made Li Zicheng unable to put it down.
But when Zheng Jiada's men opened the wooden box and assembled the contents, Li Zicheng realized that the musket was nothing.
With one shot, the sky collapsed and the earth shattered.
Li Zicheng's eyes turned red when he saw that the small cannon with two big wheels in front of him could hit three miles away, and could also completely destroy thick walls and big trees.
The reason why their northwest rebel army was displaced and unable to gain a foothold was because they lacked the sharp weapons to destroy the city and demolish the stronghold.
Facing the fortified city, they had no choice.
But the resources are basically in the city. If you can't break the city, you can't develop and grow, and you will always be a rogue bandit.
If we had such firearms and could destroy the city wall with one shot, what would the Ming army have to fear?
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 itself.
Not to mention that it didn't hit that far, the artillery shell was just an iron ball, unlike the New Army's artillery that exploded into a large area.
But Zheng Jiada has already said that good things are obviously not sold for takeaway.
And such artillery is completely enough for the rebels.
"How many cannons like this are there? We want them all."
Zheng Jiada laughed, but what he said made Li Zicheng extremely embarrassed.
"Cannons are not easy to cast, far more so than muskets. Such a cannon requires four thousand taels of silver, not including cannonballs and gunpowder."
Li Zicheng was frightened and had no idea it was such a sky-high price.
But he has seen the power of artillery. It is not an exaggeration to say that one cannon is equivalent to a thousand.
Can only four thousand taels of silver be enough to stop thousands of troops?
Obviously not.
But artillery will do.
Li Zicheng can still settle this account.
"Then give us thirty doors."
Thirty artillery pieces with ammunition, plus a thousand muskets and ammunition, had already consumed all the wealth Li Zicheng had looted over the years.
But Li Zicheng didn't care.
He knew very well that once these weapons were obtained, the wealth he could grab would only be greater.
And with these things, the ranking among the rebels will have to change.
He, Li Zicheng, no longer has to be anyone's vassal. He is the top of the mountain and must be ranked high.
Yes, Li Zicheng did not intend to inform others about the transaction with the New Army, 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 the joys and sorrows and faced precarious situations. For this uncle, Li Zicheng could only follow him willingly.
But now that his climate has matured and his troops are strong, he wants to seek more.
Zheng Jiada could clearly see his little thoughts, but he didn't care.
"Okay then, it's a deal. Three days later, we'll still be trading here."
Li Zicheng high-fived him, signed a contract, and returned happily with gifts.
Li Zicheng was careful enough to avoid irrelevant eyes and ears, and only informed Li Guo, Li Jin and other close associates of the matter.
When the generals of the Chuang army learned that they would get magical weapons, everyone was very excited, and their hatred of Shandong was also reduced a lot.
Li Guo and Li Jin even started to argue, both wanting to arm their own troops with these weapons.
In the end, it was Li Zicheng who made the decision and the arrangement was given to Li Jin.
It's not that he trusts Li Jin more, but because Li Jin leads his personal bodyguard.
No matter what, Li Zicheng could not allow a powerful force to be out of sight and out of control.
As for Liang Yue.
Li Zicheng knew that he and Zuo Mengeng had a bloody feud.
I don't know how Liang Yue should feel when he learned about this matter. He hesitated for a moment and could only tell everyone to hide it for the time being.
