Before leaving Yask, Zhao Qiang met Duncan, Guo Youcai, and Guo Youshou. The three of them had been staying in Yask for a few days, but they had not been summoned by Zhao Qiang. It seemed that the general had forgotten them, which disappointed them.
They were as anxious as ants on a hot pot, and wanted to find someone to pass the news for them, but for such a big man, no one except Zhao Qiang wanted to see them. The three of them asked to see the door, so they had to stay in the security department every day
They looked at Zhao Qiang's residence in Yask, which was temporarily set up in the security team at the door of the team, hoping that the general could come to them and remember why they came here. Unfortunately, what made them depressed was that they did not see Zhao Qiang for several days, and the only gain was that they were close to each other.
Many of the guards guarding the gate shouted and scolded him.
When Zhao Qiang saw the three of them, he remembered that he still had something to do. Seeing that it was still early, he was not in a hurry to leave now, so he asked Yan Qian to bring Duncan and the others in.
"Dear General, it's an honor for you to take time out of your busy schedule to summon us."
Finally being summoned, Duncan was overjoyed and led Guo Youcai and Guo Youshou to salute Zhao Qiang respectfully.
Seeing these three foreigners kneeling on the ground without any obstacles in front of him, Zhao Qiang laughed out loud. The knees of foreigners were not much different from those of Chinese people. They could still be stretched and bent.
"There have been a lot of things lately, and I have been so busy running around. If I hadn't seen you just now, I would have almost forgotten you." Zhao Qiang chuckled and motioned to the guards to give Duncan and the others tea.
"Your Excellency General, your career is booming and your army is invincible. I believe that under the leadership of Your Excellency General, the Guan Ning Army will become the true master of the Far East! Compared with the General, those Russians are really not worthy of having this
This vast land, they should go back to Moscow." Duncan was embarrassed to take the initiative to ask about related procurement matters, so as not to leave greedy thoughts in the other person's mind, so he complimented Zhao Qiang first, but his words were not true.
It is pure flattery, but it is true. Under the leadership of Zhao Qiang, the Guan Ning Army has indeed replaced the Russians, and in the near future, he even thinks that the Guan Ning Army is likely to go south to compete with the Tatar Qing people.
Fan.
"Well, I have always believed that the Russians are not worthy of being the masters of this land. They should not come to the East at all." Zhao Qiang smiled and glanced at Guo Youcai and Guo Youshou, who looked confused because they could not understand Chinese: "You two
The treatment of the wounded members of our Guanning Army at Shouyi City Hospital was quite effective, and I would like to thank you both on behalf of the more than 10,000 soldiers under my command."
After Duncan translated Zhao Qiang's words, Guo Youcai and Guo Youshou became humble and said a few polite words. Zhao Qiang asked some more questions about the hospital, and Guo and Guo answered them one by one, but it was clear that they were very slow when answering.
It's absent-minded.
"Not long ago, I told you that I need a large number of French firearms to arm my subordinates. When I said this, I didn't have enough money to purchase it. Now, although it is not much, it is barely enough.
I can purchase a batch for you." Zhao Qiang stopped talking to them and went straight to the topic: "You are from Macau, do you know how much silver a musket costs and how much silver a cannon costs?"
Hearing Zhao Qiang ask about this, Duncan and Er Guo perked up. The three of them chatted for a few words, and then Duncan replied: "Returning to the general, in the East, apart from us Spaniards, there are also Portuguese people who can sell firearms.
The English and Dutch are mostly stocked by Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch merchants. Based on the size of the general's current army, we believe that the number of muskets the general will purchase in the future should be more than 10,000. This is a huge number.
Purchasing from merchants from one country will definitely not satisfy His Majesty the General, so if the General needs us to purchase on his behalf, we will purchase from several countries at the same time." At this point, Duncan paused, and then said with some caution: "According to
According to the market prices we learned before leaving Macau, the price of a front-loading musket is about twenty taels of silver, while the price of a small artillery weighing three hundred kilograms is about five hundred taels."
"A musket costs twenty taels of silver!"
Zhao Qiang was shocked by the price, because even though he was from later generations, he also knew what one tael of silver represented.
Many people in later generations actually have no idea how much one tael of silver is worth. Especially the Idiot TV series of later generations that gave Zhao Qiang a headache was the most extreme. It actually showed two steamed buns and a bowl of soup costing 5 taels of silver. A young lady lost a fortune in one gambling session.
Ten million taels of silver and other ridiculous plots. You must know that the annual revenue of the treasury only reached 2 million taels during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, and it was only after Zhang Juzheng's reforms that the treasury income was abundant. Some novels are also full of loopholes in the use of gold and silver.
Zhao Qiang remembered that Master Jin, whom he admired, once described how he did not know the actual price of silver: Guo Jing first met Huang Rong and was beaten by her. As a result, "the bill was settled in a while, and the total was nineteen taels and four cents."
Cao Xueqin, who has not yet been born, wrote in his "Dream of Red Mansions" that Grandma Liu went to Jia's house and ate 24 taels of silver for a meal of crabs. She sighed and said that the silver could support a small family for a year. "History of the Ming Dynasty" also said
It is mentioned that the legitimate salary of a seventh-grade magistrate is only 45 taels of silver per year. In the late Southern Song Dynasty during the period of "The Condor", the circulation of silver was still lower than that of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, so its value can only be higher. These 19 taels are more than one meal.
, no matter how rare the delicacy is, it seems too much. Historical records indicate that during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, one tael of silver could buy two kilo of rice of average quality. At that time, one tael of silver was about a catty, and one tael of silver could buy a catty of rice. That was when Zhao Qiang was in his previous life.
The price of a pound of rice is 1.5 to 1.7 yuan. From this, one tael of silver RMB in the Ming Dynasty can be calculated. Although the story of "Dream of Red Mansions" is based on the Qing Dynasty, the living conditions are based on the Ming Dynasty. Let's calculate based on the value of silver taels in the Ming Dynasty.
Grandma Liu was of course very happy to receive more than 13,000 yuan for the New Year allowance; while Guo Jing paid more than 12,000 yuan for a meal, and it was still an exaggeration in a small place like Zhangjiakou.
Okay. Even if Guo Jing is stupid, he comes from a poor background and it is impossible not to know the value of money. A smart person like Huang Rong is even less likely to be ripped off by the store, so it can only be said that Lao Jin has not yet fully explored the purchasing power of silver.
The letter just started writing.
With the memory of later generations and the personal experience of the owner of the body, Zhao Qiang couldn't help but be surprised by the price of twenty taels of silver for a musket. When calculated, it would cost more than 10,000 yuan to buy one. The price was too high.
It was a bit ridiculously high and far beyond what Zhao Qiang could bear.
"Your Majesty General, this price was the market before we came here. I'm afraid it's not that high now." Duncan saw Zhao Qiang was stunned after hearing the price. He thought that the price he quoted had scared him, so he hurriedly and tactfully said that the price was still available.
of discussion.
"The general is buying in large quantities, and this price can definitely be renegotiated. Businessmen from various countries are just looking for money. Now that the general has such a big demand, they can't just do a one-time transaction with the general. With my mediation, this price
It can definitely be lowered."
"Yes, yes, yes, General, we swear in the name of the emperor that we will fight for you to get the best price from those profit-seeking businessmen."
The price quoted by Duncan was not generally high, but more than double the original price. This figure was discussed by the three of them a few days ago, and they had decided how to divide the parts after the completion. Seeing Zhao Qiang frowning tightly,
With stunned expressions on their faces, Youcai and Youshou were worried that if the other party thought the price was too high and stopped purchasing Western firearms, then they would be in vain. Therefore, the two stood up in a hurry and assured Zhao Qiang that they would definitely stand up.
Consider the position of the Guan Ning army for the general.
Niang Xipi, I’m counting on you, I’ve even eaten my skin and flesh by you. Of course the price is ridiculously high, I’m afraid even ten taels of silver won’t be used! God knows how Duncan had the nerve to pay for it, Zhao Qiang swept them away angrily.
At a glance, I made a calculation in my mind. If I allocate all the 12,000 taels of silver seized from the Russians to buy muskets, counting 20 taels of silver per shot, I can only buy 600 muskets. How many more can I make by adding more hands?
With one hundred taels of gold, the total number of muskets he could buy would not exceed a thousand. This number was too far from his needs. Besides, he couldn't allocate all the money he had, otherwise what would happen to the General Government?
turnover?
If it weren't for the fact that the silver mine wouldn't be around for a while, Zhao Qiang wouldn't care too much about the price. Anyway, he has the silver mine and can dig it out after using it up. But now, there are no more places where silver is needed in all aspects than before.
With the increase of territory and population in the controlled area, the use and circulation of silver are inevitable. Where there are people, there will be trade and exchange. This is a natural law and cannot be changed by Zhao Qiang.
What he can do now is to use the planned economy model to maximize the conversion of all wealth in the occupied areas into the war power of the Guan Ning Army based on the existing basis.
The price was high and the money was small, but he had to buy it. After much deliberation, Zhao Qiang finally decided to give 300 taels of gold and 8,000 taels of silver for Duncan and his party to go to Macau. Zhao Qiang admitted failure on this first trip, and Duncan and the others made a profit from it.
He didn't care how much they took, but they had to complete one thing for Guan Ningjun.
"I have thought about it. Although the price is a bit high, I can still afford it, so I have to worry about purchasing firearms." Before Duncan and the others could smile, Zhao Qiang changed the topic and said:
"But in addition to purchasing during your trip, I also hope that you can bring those arms dealers to Yask. In addition, I want you to hire some workers, technicians, etc. who are familiar with firearms manufacturing for my Guan Ning Army.
"
"this…"
By bringing the arms dealers to Yask, wouldn't it be like digging their own way to make money? It wouldn't be a problem to help hire some workers and technicians. Duncan and Erguo looked at each other and said nothing.
Zhao Qiang didn't understand what the three of them were thinking. He smiled slightly and patted Duncan on the shoulder: "Purchasing firearms for me, Guan Ningjun, is just a small matter. I intend to take charge of the development of silver mines in various places for you after you come back. I don't know.
Wait if you want."
"Develop silver mines?"
Oh, Emperor! Duncan could hardly believe his ears. Didn’t we come to the East just for the silver mines? Compared with the wealth of the silver mines and the profits from purchasing firearms, there is a huge difference. I am afraid that after hearing such things, Emperor
They would nod in agreement without hesitation.
"Your Majesty General, thank you for your trust in us, and we will loyally run the silver mine for you."
Duncan and Er Guo had a very serious conversation there, which made Zhao Qiang chuckle to himself.
"Well, for your safety on the road, I am going to ask my bodyguard Yan Baihu to go with you. Firstly, to protect your safety, and secondly, besides firearms, I can also purchase something for me."
Zhao Qiang pointed at Yan Qian: "Yan Baihu is from a maritime merchant family and is highly skilled in martial arts. With his protection, I believe that the three of us will be able to reach Macau safely."
Duncan, who had long been away from purchasing, smiled warmly at Yan Qian, and then said sincerely: "With General Yan's protection, we will be able to better complete the mission entrusted by Your Excellency General. Here, thank you, Your Excellency General, for your concern for us."
.”
Yan Qian belongs to a maritime business family. Although the family has been ruined, its influence is still there. Zhao Qiang asked Yan Qian and Duncan to go to Macau together. On the one hand, he was to monitor them and prevent them from taking away the money. On the other hand, it was to let Yan Qian and Duncan go to Macau together.
Qian went to the South China Sea to contact old friends and some pirates, and promised to lure them with large sums of money to serve Guan Ning's army in the north.
It is imperative to build a navy. Under all circumstances, pirates and merchant sailors who are familiar with the sea are undoubtedly the best choice. Zhao Qiang had arrived in history. Since the early Qing Dynasty, the pirate power entrenched in the South China Sea has been very strong.
They were so powerful that even the Dutch and Spanish could do nothing to them for a period of time. In their heyday, they could even control the Strait of Malacca and some small countries in Southeast Asia. Zhao Qiang did not expect Yan Qian to persuade all pirates to come north, he only hoped that he could bring them to the north.
Just bring back a group of people. Whether it is high-ranking officials or generous salaries, as long as the pirates are willing, Zhao Qiang will provide them as much as possible. Of course, the premise is that they must create a navy for themselves that can traverse the national sea.