Tang Ruowang opened the wine cabinet, took out a bottle of vodka, three small glasses, and brought caviar, grilled sausages, salted fish, peanuts and other items to drink with it.
The three of them sat at the table and drank together. Mou Rong added another drink and said with a smile: "This wine is quite strong, no less than burning a knife."
Li Tianmu said: "That's right, I can drink three kilograms of Shao Daozi, but two kilograms of this wine will knock me down."
Mou Rongtian saw a big round ball on a shelf in the corner with patterns painted on it. He was very curious and walked over to look at it. It looked like a map and asked: "Father Tang, is this a map?"
?”
Tang Ruowang said, "That's a globe. The world we live in is a big ball, and we live on this ball." He walked over, pointed at the globe, and said, "This is your Ming Empire." Turn the globe.
, pointed again, and said: "This is our Europa."
Li Tianmu also came over to see the excitement and looked at the globe, which he found new and interesting.
Mou Rongtian smiled and said: "Father Tang, if the world is a sphere, can we stand still? If we don't fall down, you are wrong. The world should be flat, and it will never be a sphere."
"Ha..." Tang Ruowang smiled and said, "Master Mou, you don't know something now. There is gravity in the center of the earth, so we will not fall."
Mou Rongtian said: "There is gravity at the center of the earth? How can you see it?"
Tang Ruowang said: "Master Mou, let me ask you, why do things fall to the ground and not to the sky?"
Mou Rongtian smiled and said: "Of course things will fall to the ground? How can they fly into the sky?"
Tang Ruowang asked: "Why is this?"
Mou Rongtian pondered for a moment and said, "Well, I don't even know about this."
Tang Ruowang said: "This means there is gravity at the center of the earth, otherwise we would all be flying into the sky."
Mou Rongtian couldn't figure it out and said noncommittally: "Maybe."
Li Tianmu swung the globe and asked: "Father Tang, how long does it take to get from our Ming Dynasty to your Europa?"
Tang Ruowang said: "I came by boat. I don't know how long it will take to travel by land. If I take a boat, it will take more than a year."
Li Tianmu was shocked and said: "Oh, it takes so long. Father Tang, you have traveled thousands of miles to come to our Ming Dynasty. It's really hard on you."
The three of them sat down to drink again. After chatting for a while, Mou Rong added: "I want to buy firearms from a European businessman, but I have no way. I wonder if Father Tang knows the European businessman?"
Tang Ruowang said: "I know almost all the European merchants who were doing business in the Ming Dynasty. Their ships are equipped with firearms, including muskets and cannons. However, these firearms are used to fight pirates. If they are sold to Mr. Mou, what will they use to fight pirates?
"
Mou Rongtian said: "Father Tang knows the European businessmen. Please help me build a bridge with them. Maybe they are willing to sell."
Tang Ruowang said: "Okay, you and Daxia Li will stay in the guest room first, and I will contact you. After you find it, you can talk about it yourself."
Mou Rongtian cupped his hands and said, "Thank you."
Tang Ruowang settled Mou and Li in the guest room. After dinner, around the second watch, Tang Ruowang took Mou and Li to the conference room. When he entered the room, under the candlelight, he saw people sitting side by side on the north side of the long round table.
Five Europeans.
Mou Rongtian smiled at them, nodded, and sat across from the five people with Tang Ruowang and Li Tianmu.
Tang Ruowang introduced the two parties to each other. A businessman named George said in blunt Chinese: "Master Mou, I don't know why you want to buy the firearms on our ship. How many do you want to buy and at what price?"
Mou Rongtian originally wanted to chat for a while, say a few words, and then mention the purchase of firearms. Seeing that the other party got straight to the point, he stopped talking nonsense and replied: "The Jurchens in Liaodong are now in trouble, and the firearms are purchased to exterminate the Jurchen rebels."
.The amount needed is huge. I have brought 1.5 million taels of silver, 180,000 taels of gold, and many jewelry and jades, all of which will be used to purchase firearms. As for the price? You can quote a price first and I will consider it.
"
George said: "The Ming Empire is different from us in Europe. When doing business here, if you don't have a good relationship with the local government, you won't be able to do business. Therefore, I am very willing to do business with the Ming court. I can transfer all the firearms at the purchase price."
To your Excellency, in order to make friends with your court."
Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "This person knows his identity." He smiled and said: "Thank you very much."
Tang Ruowang said: "George, you sold all the firearms to Mr. Mou, what will you use to protect your ship? What will you do if you encounter pirates?"
George said: "I will ask someone to bring a batch of firearms from Europe to re-equip my ships."
Tang Ruowang said: "Oh Maiga, it will take at least more than a year for the firearms to be transported from Europe. Will you stop doing business this year?"
George smiled and said: "It's worth wasting a year to make friends with the Ming Dynasty."
Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "What you said is generous. This is business, and I understand it. Businessmen value profits over righteousness. Who would do a losing business?" He smiled faintly and asked: "Mr. George, I wonder what the price of your firearms is?
"
George said: "My muskets are all the most advanced flintlock muskets, and the artillery pieces are also the most advanced Fran cannons. I have a thousand muskets, more than 10,000 projectiles, 20 artillery pieces, and 300 shells."
Multiple shots, I plan to sell these firearms for 350,000 taels of silver."
Mou Rongtian compared the cost of firearms with the Ministry of Works and made some mental calculations silently. He was surprised to find that George's quotation was less than half of the cost of the Ministry of Works. He thought to himself: "There is no good product if it is cheap. Cheap is a rip-off. I can't let him cheat."
He smiled and said, "The price is okay, but I don't know how the quality is?"
George smiled and said: "Mr. Mou, you can rest assured that there is absolutely no problem with the quality. I have just said that these are the most advanced firearms. I have seen the homemade firearms of your Ming Empire. Frankly speaking, you
His firearms are much worse than mine. If you don’t believe me, I can take you to inspect the goods. Once you see them, you will know that my firearms are very ok!”
Mou Rongtian couldn't understand Western and didn't know what "veryok" meant. He expected it to be a complimentary word and said with a smile: "Well, I don't know when Mr. George will be free. I want to inspect the goods. If the quality is OK, we will
It’s a deal.”
George said: "OK, it's too late today. Let's go tomorrow morning. I'll take you to inspect the goods tomorrow morning. That's it. I'll take my leave now." After that, he got up and left.
Even if he bought all of George's firearms, it was still not enough, so Mou Rongtian continued negotiations with four other businessmen. Like George, the four wanted to make friends with the Ming court and were willing to sell the firearms at cost price.
Mou Rongtian felt that there was no problem with the price and agreed on the inspection time one by one.
The next morning, George took Mou and Li to the beach and boarded his ship. They saw dozens of baskets filled with 80% new muskets. Mou Rongtian took one out and asked the sailor to shoot him.
, he wanted to test the power of this gun.
George shouted in surprise: "No, no, you can't do this. Master Mou, do you want your life?"
Mou Rongtian smiled and said: "Mr. George, don't worry, I won't be hurt."
George said: "How is this possible? The bullet will make a hole in you."
Mou Rongtian said: "I have a bulletproof vest and magical body protection. Not to mention this small musket, even your artillery may not be able to hurt me."
George said: "Do you have a bulletproof vest?"
Mou Rongtian said: "Exactly."
George said: "Is your official uniform a bulletproof vest?"
Mou Rongtian said: "No." He unbuttoned his official uniform and exposed his fish skin waistcoat. He pointed at it and said, "This is the bulletproof vest."
George said: "Can it really stop bullets? Master Mou, have you tried it before?"
Mou Rongtianxin said: "Why is this guy so verbose?" He said: "I haven't tried it, but it will definitely be no problem to block bullets."
George said: "Since you haven't tried it, don't take the risk. Take it off and let's try it with a shot first. If it really can stop bullets, you can try it with it on again."
Mou Rongtian thought to himself: "He has good intentions." He smiled and said: "Okay, I'll take it off first and try it."
After taking off his official uniform and fishskin waistcoat, his arms were bare, revealing his muscular body. George looked at it, raised his thumb, and praised: "Master Mou, your muscles are so good, and my friend Swassin
Pretty much the same size.”
On the bow of the boat stood several European girls with sexy figures and scantily clad clothes. They were fascinated by Mou Rongtian's handsome appearance and strong figure. They gathered around and stared at him like a nymphomaniac.
Mou Rongtian frowned and thought: "Why are foreign girls so unruly? How can they stare at men's flesh." He quickly put on his official uniform to cover his body.
The gunfire rang out loudly, and the projectile hit the fishskin waistcoat. George leaned over to pick it up and looked at it. He saw that the projectile only left a black spot on the fishskin waistcoat. He exclaimed: "It's amazing. This one is really a bulletproof thing."
Clothes."
In Europa, only armor can block bullets, and precious clothing like fish skin vests are unique. The savvy George discovered the business opportunity and thought that if he could bring the fish skin vest back to Europa, he would definitely be able to sell it at a good price. So he said:
"Master Mou, I like this bulletproof vest of yours very much. Can you tell me a price and I want to buy it?"
Mou Rongtian was startled and thought: "Why is this Westerner speaking so abruptly? He has no etiquette at all." He said, "I'm sorry, this dress was a gift from a friend. I apologize that I cannot give it to you."
In the commercial society of Europe, it is common for a person to take a fancy to another person's thing and offer to buy it. Therefore, George did not feel that he had been rude and said with a smile: "Master Mou, don't refuse in a hurry.
Well, the price is negotiable, just make a price."
Mou Rongtian frowned and thought to himself: "This guy is really ignorant. Westerners are raw and drink blood. They are uneducated and have no sense of propriety in doing things. They are simply incomparable to our Ming Dynasty, a country of etiquette." His face sank and he said: "I don't care about you.
No matter how much money you offer, I won’t give in. Mr. George, please don’t mention this matter again.”
When George saw that Mou Rongtian was angry, he was puzzled and thought to himself: "Business cannot be done with righteousness, so why is he angry? Where did I offend him?"