Chapter two hundred and ninety third beat the devil
On May 10th, Li Zhi went to Wangjiawan to look at the two ships he was building.
Wangjiawan is located forty miles south of Dagukou. It is a sparsely populated bay, recessed from the outer coast. The land of the bay is surrounded by several small mounds, making it relatively secluded. The soil on the Tianjin seaside is saline and alkaline, making it impossible to farm.
, the population density is very low. If you don't look for it carefully, you can't even get into such a bay.
There were more than a dozen families of fishermen living in the bay, and they were all hired by Boss Wang to build boats. Boss Wang bribed the local Qianhu officials, so no one came to care about Boss Wang's shipbuilding affairs.
Li Zhi and Zha Yunke took a few guards and rode lightly for two hours. They entered Wangjiawan and saw Boss Wang's shipbuilding site.
On the construction site, densely packed ribs have been built for one ship, two decks have been laid, and it already looks like a ship. The other ship has just laid the keel, and has not yet begun to set up the ribs.
Zha Yunke looked at Li Zhi and said: "Captain Zuo, I was afraid you would misunderstand when you said you wanted to build a ship, so it's inconvenient to tell you, but I still have to tell you now. The profits of this overseas trade are not as profitable as they were during the Tianqi years.
!”
Li Zhi asked: "Oh? How do you say it?"
Cha Yunke said: "Ten years ago, one tael of silver was worth one tael, and a load of fine Dengzhou white raw silk cost only about one hundred taels of silver. It could be sold for two hundred taels of silver when sold to Japan.
When the silk produced by ships was brought to the Japanese country, the profits could easily be tens of thousands of taels. It was really a good day to go to sea."
"Even six or seven years ago, one or two five cents of silver could be used as one tael of silver. The purchase price of a load of raw silk was only about 140 taels, which still left a profit of 60 taels. A boatload of raw silk was sold for
The profit from going to Japan is more than 10,000 taels. Including the goods on the return trip, one ship can make an income of 20,000 taels a year."
"But now, with the war and chaos, the prices of goods in our Ming Dynasty have soared, and two taels of silver can only be used as one tael. The purchase price of a load of Dengzhou white raw silk in Tianjin has reached 170 taels, and it can only be sold for 2 taels when sold to Japan.
One hundred taels, the profit is only three or forty taels! The profit from this trip to Japan is only a few thousand taels. Even if the ship comes back and sells some Japanese knives, it will only be ten thousand taels for one trip.
The profits we made are truly unparalleled compared to before!”
"Not to mention that when the maritime ban in Fujian was lifted last year, dozens more ships came to Japan, and the selling price of raw silk was even lower."
Li Zhi looked at Zha Yunke and knew that what he said was true.
During the Chongzhen period, the supply of goods was insufficient due to war. In addition, silver from the Americas and Japan continued to flow into China, which caused prices to rise very fast. It can be said to be serious inflation. In the Tianqi period, one stone and meter were one tael of silver, and by the twelfth year of Chongzhen, there were 2 taels of silver.
Money can't even buy it.
The prices of goods in the Ming Dynasty were so expensive, so the profits of goods shipped to Japan were naturally low. If Li Zhi was engaged in raw silk trading like others, he probably wouldn't make much money.
Li Zhi looked at Zha Yunke and said: "The silk I sell to Japan may not necessarily be raw silk. It may also be a specialty produced in my Fanjiazhuang."
When Zha Yunke heard this, his eyes lit up and he smiled: "If Governor Zuo manages his own specialties, he can make more profits."
In fact, Zha Yunke was still afraid that Li Zhi's two big ships would compete with him for the raw silk business, which would raise the purchase price of Tianjin's raw silk and dilute his profits. Hearing Li Zhi talk about operating his own specialty products, he was very happy and said:
"Dudu Zuo's glass mirrors and transparent glass are sold all over Japan and can be sold for a lot."
Li Zhi nodded and said, "I have a lot of things to sell."
Zha Yunke was very happy when he heard this. He took Li Zhi to find Boss Wang and found the craftsman on the ship that was about to be built.
Boss Wang was standing on the second deck, discussing something with Zheng Kaida. When he saw Li Zhi approaching, he quickly came up to him and bowed down: "Boss Wang has met the Governor."
Li Zhi helped Boss Wang up and asked: "Boss Wang, how is the construction of my boat going?"
Boss Wang said: "In another month and a half, the first one will be built. Now the keel ribs of the first one are all installed, and the position of the paddle wheel that the adults mentioned has been built. The paddle wheel can be installed at any time. Just wait.
The bearings and steam engine you mentioned are here, my lord."
"The other one can be built in less than four months."
Li Zhi nodded and looked around, feeling that the ship was well made.
Zha Yunke patted around and said to Li Zhi: "Captain Zuo, Boss Wang has worked hard this time and built the ship with solid materials. It will last for seven or eight years without any problem."
Boss Wang looked around with Li Zhi and asked curiously: "General, is your ship for business? Why are there so many cannons?"
Li Zhi said: "Put on a cannon to fight the Japanese!"
Boss Wang was stunned and asked: "What is a Japanese?"
"As long as there are Asians and Westerners who have different intentions, they are devils! I will shoot them!"
Boss Wang thought for a while and said: "Sir, you want to be a pirate and rob the ships of those alien races!"
Li Zhi smiled and said, "You can understand it this way."
Boss Wang grinned and said: "You are still powerful, but there is no king's law on the sea. The cargo of this ship is tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of taels. If you grab a few ships, you will make a fortune!"
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After returning from Wangjiawan, Li Zhi found five rifle craftsmen and took them to the artillery workshop to find the gunsmith leader Cao Yu.
"Cao Yu, I want you to forge forty heavy cannons in these four months."
Cao Yu rubbed his palms and said: "Okay, sir, the artillery workshop has not opened the furnace for a long time to cast cannons."
Li Zhi's artillery workshop used the iron billet method to cast cannons. The cannon billets could be used repeatedly. The speed of casting cannons was very impressive. An iron-core copper body cannon could be cast in three days. Previously, Li Zhi had built 140 light cannons.
, so the artillery workshop stopped production and turned to casting dragon-tailed carriages. Cao Yu and other gunsmiths had been casting the dragon-tailed carriages for more than half a year. Once they were finished, they were sent to the warehouse for storage. They had no intention of casting that thing again.
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Li Zhi nodded and said: "But the cannons cast this time are for use on ships. The waves on the ship are bumpy and high. The cannons lit by match ropes take a long time to fire, and the aim is inaccurate. I want to change all the cannons to
The flintlock mechanism ignites the gun. I will hand over these gunsmiths to you, and you can work together on how to install the flintlock bolt onto the cannon."
Cao Yu was stunned and looked at the five gunsmiths behind Li Zhi.
Li Zhi thought for a while and then said: "It doesn't have to be a trigger. It would be good to make a rope that ignites as soon as you pull it. In short, it is to fire the gun immediately after aiming at the sea. You can think of something that can be used."
Li Zhi added: "The research has been completed. Each of the six of you will be awarded a month's worth of money."
Those gunsmiths had made countless flintlock bolts, and they were very familiar with it. They were also confident in transplanting the flintlock bolt to the cannon. At this time, when they heard Li Zhi say that there was a silver reward, one by one
