Chapter 437: The Japanese who want to buy firearms
"Kamikaze!"
In the lobby, Feng Sheng kept repeating this word.
Sitting opposite him, Qintian Supervisor Liu Rixin nodded and said: "According to the calculations of the officials and others, the weather in the east is unpredictable, and there are changes in wind and clouds, which are signs of divine wind."
"Xiaguan searched for the Jin Yiwei and specifically asked the local Japanese people. Kamikaze occurs almost every year in the Japanese country, and it is almost at this time of year."
Feng Sheng, who has been fighting inland, has naturally never seen a typhoon, and he doesn't know what it will be like when a typhoon blows.
However, with the lessons learned from Meng Yuan, Feng Sheng would not ignore the divine wind prompted by Qin Tianjian.
"How long will it take for the kamikaze to come?"
After thinking for a while, Feng Sheng asked.
Liu Rixin said: "There is a saying among the people on the southeast coast that "one thunder in June stops three towers, and one thunder in July comes to nine towers." However, we are located in the Japanese country, and the divine wind should have arrived in the Japanese country first, and then it will spread to itself.
Ming dynasty."
"According to the time limit, the Japanese kamikaze should be about one or two months earlier than the Ming Dynasty. It is May now, there is thunder in the Far East, and the kamikaze will arrive about a month later."
"The official has ordered people to observe the signs on the eastern sea from the high mountains. When the divine wind comes, there will be fish-shaped clouds floating in the sky. If the clouds are white, it indicates that the typhoon is easing. If the clouds are black, then
The typhoon is bound to be fierce.”
"You will know when the time comes."
Feng Sheng nodded: "It seems that we can only build defenses immediately. We just don't know how fierce this hurricane will be. If it is compared to the one three years ago, I'm afraid it will be difficult to do anything."
"Now the Japanese side is holding back its troops, and the Kyushu Island is avoiding the enemy and not resisting our army head-on. It is probably because of this divine wind."
"An attempt was made to destroy our army with divine wind, and then achieve victory just like Meng Yuan did."
After Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, there were also two major typhoons in the Ming Dynasty.
It is recorded:
In July of the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, there was a strong storm and the sea overflowed, killing more than ten thousand people.
In the twenty-third year of Hongwu's reign, on the first day of July, a hurricane blew up sand and uprooted trees, destroying three prefectures and burying 1,700 families. Chongming's huts along the sand were wiped out, seventy-eight out of ten people drowned, and two died in Songjiang Prefecture.
More than ten thousand people.
After talking with Liu Rixin, Feng Sheng did not hesitate and immediately ordered the construction of typhoon defense fortifications.
For typhoon defense, the main method is to strengthen it.
But what lies before Feng Sheng is the Ming Dynasty fleet.
"Feng Cheng, pass on my military order and immediately select ten thousand people from the army to sail the fleet back to the Ming Dynasty."
Feng Sheng called his nephew and gave instructions.
He didn't know how large the hurricane would be. If it was too large, it would have a severe impact on the fleet.
Every ship is a valuable asset. It is already difficult for people to survive under a hurricane, let alone a ship.
"Uncle, if the fleet turns around, my nephew is worried that the morale of the army will be affected."
Feng Cheng hesitated for a moment and then said.
For the sergeants of the Ming Dynasty, the fleet was like a retreat. If all the fleet was gone, it would feel like the retreat was cut off and morale would naturally decline.
"It's not like we can't come here. After returning to the Ming Dynasty, we will report the situation here to His Majesty. The food supply here on Kyushu Island is worrying, and with the hurricane attack, there will definitely be large-scale casualties."
"Including the grain fields, it is estimated that they will also be seriously damaged. The turnaround of the fleet will not only preserve the food, but also prepare food for use after the disaster."
"These things will be passed down to the sergeants when the time comes."
Feng Sheng said calmly.
As a top contemporary general, he is very familiar with controlling military morale.
In addition to his personal prestige, even King Yan and King Jin led many elite soldiers, but compared to Feng Sheng, they can only be said to be very different.
...
"It seems they are all waiting for the hurricane in June."
Zhu Ying, who was in Suzhou Prefecture, got information about the Japanese country at the first time.
The current state of Japan is relatively in line with expectations.
For most soldiers, the biggest enemy in an expedition is often not fighting on the battlefield, but a completely unfamiliar environment.
In later generations, acclimatization was just a simple term, but now, it can really kill people.
This does not mean that a few people will die, but once a plague develops, large swaths of people will die.
Most of the soldiers who went on an expedition to Japan had lived in inland areas for a long time. A single incident of seasickness could consume a large amount of their combat power.
In the naval battle against Japan, it was the Daming Navy of the Jiujing Water Station who came on the scene, and only then could they succeed in one fell swoop.
"My boss, the Japanese country is currently relatively short of population, so it is impossible to transport a large number of Japanese people to the Ming Dynasty."
"Although it now occupies one-third of Kyushu Island, it is difficult to mine mineral deposits in war-torn areas. Currently, in the Wa country, the business of our chamber of commerce is greatly reduced."
"Including the daimyo and samurai, they are also reducing their demand. They hope that we can provide more elite weapons."
"Currently, the Japanese are offering twenty taels of silver per matchlock gun, and fifty taels per artillery piece."
Uncle Zhang said with a smile.
For now, the Ming army is almost in a one-sided situation against the Japanese.
For example, those cities could be captured on the same day they were attacked.
The biggest factor why it is so simple lies in the use of firearms.
The current Japanese state is in the era of broadswords, spears, and bows and arrows.
Especially the short city gate, a large and small general cannon blasted it for half an hour, let alone the city gate, the city wall was almost destroyed.
What about defense?
Then the Huo Tong soldiers went up and fired, and then the army pressed in. There was no resistance.
After seeing the power of Ming military firearms, the Japanese naturally spent a lot of money and wanted to purchase firearms and armaments.
However, firearms were all under the jurisdiction of the Ming Dynasty, especially with the blockade of sea areas. Even smugglers did not dare to risk supplying goods at this time.
Not to mention smuggling, even purchasing large quantities of firearms or gunpowder in the Ming Dynasty area will be subject to government scrutiny.
Once any news is leaked, it goes without saying that all nine tribes will be 100% destroyed.
At present, due to the government-run operation, it seems that the manufacturing of firearms is slow, but in fact the cost is not very high.
Even if it is a cannon, the overall price is only about eight guan notes. For example, if the cost of a matchlock gun is higher, it will not exceed two guan notes.
Although the price of silver is theoretically one to one, in reality the purchasing power of one tael of silver is still much greater than that of treasure banknotes.
Twenty taels for a matchlock gun is almost a sky-high price.
This is just a matchlock gun. If you include gunpowder, it will be a huge profit.
But Zhu Ying has no plans to earn this money for the time being, especially for the Japanese country.
Today, firearms are still firmly controlled by the government, and there are no arms dealers. Zhu Ying will take advantage of the dimensionality reduction brought by current firearms to carry out a new round of expansion for the Ming Dynasty before he will start to consider selling off some obsolete firearms.
.
Even if the Japanese offer a higher price, they will never sell them a fire gun.
Zhu Ying thought for a while and said: "The price offered by the Japanese will definitely attract a group of desperate businessmen, especially Shanxi merchants."
"If they want firearms, they can only find a way inside the guardhouse."
"In this case, Uncle Zhang, let our small chambers of commerce that secretly control it send out the news about the purchase of matchlock guns."
"The price is set at five taels for a firegun and ten taels for a matchlock gun. We'll take whatever you get."
Hearing this, Uncle Zhang said: "Wonderful, my boss's method is really good. In this way, whoever sells our fire lineage will be known immediately and can be cut off directly."
Zhu Ying smiled and said nothing.
Fishing for law enforcement has long been a routine used by later generations.
At present, there is no chamber of commerce selling arms. As long as he is the first to release the news, no one will think that he is from the imperial court.
Moreover, this business is still in business for a long time. As long as there are some signs, the source can be quickly found and eliminated.
Relatively speaking, it is easy when there are clues.
The current situation in Suzhou Prefecture is pretty good. With enough money, it is basically starting a shipyard.
Naturally, it is not for Zhu Ying to worry about these things.
Next is a new itinerary: Shanghai.
From the Yuan Dynasty to the 28th year of the Yuan Dynasty, the imperial court approved the establishment of Shanghai County by Pu San Hanwen, the prefect of Songjiang, and the county seat was set in Shanghai Town established in the Song Dynasty.
Since the Han Dynasty, Shanghai has had coin-making, iron-smelting, and salt-cooking industries.
During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the continuous economic development in the south of the Yangtze River, the economy in Shanghai also developed rapidly.
In the early years of Kaiyuan of the Tang Dynasty, a sea-protecting pond was built starting from Yanguan in the south and ending at Wusongjiang River in the north.
The land was also reclaimed and gradually developed into an important grain-producing area.
Since then, the population, counties and towns have gradually increased, and the scale has expanded.
After the mid-Tang Dynasty, Shanghai's economic and cultural ties with the country and abroad further expanded. In the tenth year of Tianbao's reign in the Tang Dynasty, Huating County was set up from the three counties of Kunshan, Jiaxing and Haiyan, and the Huating Sea in the northeast of Huating County was established.
Qinglong Market Town in the northeast of Huating County was home to numerous ships and fireworks, and was compared to Hangzhou at the time.
At that time, Shanghai, as a new trading port, was already a place where ships and merchants gathered.
In the 14th year of Yuan Dynasty, the Municipal Shipping Department was established in Shanghai Town, and then the Capital Water Transport Wanhu Prefecture was established.
At that time, Shanghai Town had become "a giant town in the northeast of Huating".
In the 28th year of the Yuan Dynasty, five townships in the northeast of Huating County were divided and named Shanghai County.
After Shanghai was established as a county, its economy has developed greatly.
The cotton planting industry is becoming more and more prosperous, and the cotton textile industry is also gradually emerging.
Huang Daopo, a native of Wunijing, Songjiang, brought back advanced textile technology from Hainan and reformed textile tools. The quantity of fabrics was high and the quality was high, which promoted the development of the handmade cotton textile industry.
The Ming Dynasty still uses the name Shanghai County.
“It’s really prosperous.”
Zhu Ying sighed a little.
Compared with other places, the commercial development here in Shanghai County has already had the initial capital-employment relationship due to the rise of the textile industry.
Including the rice fields here, most of them are growing cotton.
The grain and cotton-growing industries are almost at a 50-50 split.
In addition, it is an important water transport port, and ships transporting grain supplies by sea all sail from Shanghai.
This has also led to the fact that there is rarely a shortage of food in Shanghai County.
When the labor force is liberated, the rise of industrialization is inevitable.
The Qunying Chamber of Commerce's influence in Shanghai County is still very strong, mainly because of the previous Snowflake Salt.
There are originally a lot of salt dealers here in Shanghai, especially private salt dealers.
When snowflake salt appeared, it had a huge impact on Shanghai.
It is precisely because of this that in the early days, although Zhu Ying did not come to Shanghai in person, the Qunying Chamber of Commerce could be said to have two levels of profits, almost all of which came from here.
Most of the snowflake salt from other places in the Ming Dynasty was also transshipped from Shanghai.
Seventy percent of the list of salt officials that Zhu Ying reported to the old man were in Shanghai County.
In a restaurant, Zhu Ying took the intelligence list from the head of the branch in Shanghai from Uncle Zhang and began to read it carefully.
The main records in this register are about the current basic situation of each chamber of commerce.
There are also government officials, salt officials, etc.
After reading it, Zhu Ying said with some sigh: "When I came here, I already felt that the status of the merchants here does not seem to be low, but I didn't expect that the water transport merchants can really cover the sky with one hand by helping these people.
.”
"It's interesting to say that the water transport business gang came together because of the snowflake salt here. They raised prices in various ways and made several times the profit on sales."
"Uncle Zhang, they are more ruthless than us."
Water transport merchant gang, referred to as water transport gang.
The current composition of the Shanghai Caogang is very different from that in Suzhou.
Perhaps it is because there are more and more mixed merchants here in Shanghai that it is not easy to form a business gang organization, and the main body of the Cao gang here is actually a guard sergeant.
After tracing all the way, all the clues finally pointed to Zhenhaiwei.
It is said that it is an investigation, but in fact the members of the Cao Gang are extremely arrogant and have no intention of keeping it secret. Whenever a slightly powerful chamber of commerce does not obey their instructions, they will directly use the name Zhenhaiwei.
Speaking of which, Zhenhaiwei has some connections with Zhu Ying.
Because the founder of Zhenhaiwei was Zhou Dexing, Marquis of Jiangxia.
The famous founding general of the Ming Dynasty and one of the twenty-four generals of Huaixi, the Marquis of Jiang Xia, was the famous founding general of the Ming Dynasty who was even killed for causing rebellion in the palace.
Later Jiang Xiahou was transferred to the Fujian area, but there are still many of his old subordinates here.
"This Zhenhai Guard is quite powerful. When other guards have problems, it's mostly because the commander exploits the sergeants."
"But now the Zhenhai Guard Commander led his sergeants to exploit merchants. Instead, he established a gang like the Caogang to exercise jurisdiction over all merchants and extract large profits from them."
"I guess many salt officers also follow Zhenhaiwei."
"This guy will probably make a lot of money in a year, which is why the sergeants at the guard station are completely devoted to him."
"Don't think it's me. It won't work even if the old man comes over."
Zhu Ying said with a smile, but there was no smile in his tone.
The Zhenhai Guards who dare to be so arrogant and domineering are definitely not just as simple as Jiang Xiahou's old subordinates.
It is very likely that the Huaixi generals group is also involved.
In other words, the Zhenhaiwei behind the Cao Gang is, in a sense, still a direct descendant of Zhu Ying.