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Chapter 86 The Dilemma of the Merchants
"Eh? All sold out? 3000 pieces?"

"Not only 3000 iron cannons, but also bullets and gunpowder were sold." Ryoma also emphasized: "The buyer even urged me when the next batch of iron cannons will arrive."

(Author: Firearms were called Iron Cannons in the Warring States Period of Japan)
Bao'er did not expect that counting the six or seven days he stayed in Incheon, the time he left before and after would also exceed 20 days in total.However, in less than 20 days, Ryoma sold all 3000 muskets!
Bao'er hastily asked: "Who did you sell to? Didn't you lose money and make money?"

"How is it possible! You are insulting me, Sakamoto Ryoma, by saying such words! How can I be a person who can lose money in business? Not only did I not lose money, but I made a lot of money!"

"Big profit?" Bao'er was very curious, how much was this big profit.

"That's right, it's a big profit! Brother Baoer, you told me that a musket should be handed over to Raphael for 60 guan, and I sold it at the price of 100 guan for each iron cannon, so I made a lot of money just relying on the iron cannon A total of 12 guan. Then, in order to attract him as a repeat customer, I gave all the projectiles and gunpowder to the buyer. After deducting these costs and the tax that needs to be paid to Sakai Port, I finally have more than 10 guan left! "

Bao'er laughed, because Raphael once told him that among the muskets, the most expensive unit price is gunpowder!Because only the sulfur and saltpeter in the black powder need to be imported through overseas trade, and other things can be solved on the peninsula.Iron ore, coal, and lead-zinc mines are all dug on the peninsula, coke is coked by ourselves, and molten iron is also smelted by ourselves.As for the materials used to make the musket barrels, they were actually wastes reused by blacksmiths after they failed to cast cannons. However, it was unexpectedly discovered that the quality of the molten iron from the second smelting had gone up to a new level.

In addition, Raphael accidentally obtained the drawings of hydraulic forging machines, human-powered lathes and milling machines, so the blacksmiths and carpenters in the Incheon Research Base changed guns instantly.They only need to move the lever and turn the winch to complete the previous heavy manual labor.

They put the returned material that failed to cast the cannon under the hydraulic forging machine. They only need to turn over the iron material from time to time and return it to the furnace to heat it up. It takes about half a stick of incense to forge a qualified iron material for the gun barrel.Then these iron materials are handed over to the master who is in charge of drilling and grinding with a lathe. Basically, a master can drill 20 qualified gun barrels every day.

As for the butt of the musket, I still remember the protagonist Wang Ba of "If I touch the oak wood in the northeast again, I will be a bastard"...wrong, oak wood?The high-quality oak wood that has been left idle in piles has finally come into use.After the oak wood is put on the lathe, the woodworkers only need to align the turning knife with the wood, and then turn the wood according to the model of another gun stock.Of course, the master carpenters will also carve beads if they disagree, and then wear them into Buddhist beads and sell them to devout men and women...

And the production cost of muskets is extremely cheap. If you don't count the investment in various machines before, and only consider materials, labor and waste products, the cost of each musket is less than 10 guns!After all, how much does it cost to put an iron rod with a hole in it with a piece of wood, and add a few iron or copper parts?Therefore, among high-tech products, technology and research and development costs must be included!But even so, the unit cost of muskets will never be higher than 20 guns.

In a musket factory with less than 20 employees, it can produce more than 40 qualified muskets every day on average, and more than 1200 muskets in a month!Of course, this output is not the output when it is fully operating. After all, there are limited waste guns, and blacksmiths have to cooperate with smelters to cast guns, and carpenters also have to manufacture gun mounts for seagoing ships.Once the artillery order is completed, they can increase the production of guns at any time, and even continue to purchase machines, so that it will not be a problem to increase the production of guns by four or five.

"So..." Bao'er asked Longma, "Which one did you cheat and limp?"

"Did I fool you? No! We are the only one in Dongpu that sells iron cannons! This is a unique business. Buy and get 100 guns for free. We are the conscience of the industry, aren't we?"

Bao'er only felt that Longma's words made sense as a friend, but was speechless for a while.

"In addition, I also made a promise to the buyer!" Ryoma continued: "In the future, I can sell him iron cannons at a price of 80 guan or more, and let him enjoy the right to operate iron cannons in Kyushu Island. You can become a middleman who earns the difference!"

"So which discerning guy was lied to by you?"

"Since it's all Kyushu, of course it's the Shimadzu family of Satsuma! The Shimadzu family has many generals and is considered a rich man in Satsuma. Even without us, the Shimadzu family will go to buy Tanegashima in a few years. of."

(Author: Tanegashima, Dongying imitated the arquebus from the Portuguese.)
"But why did they buy so many iron cannons! Isn't it right for a warrior to use bows and arrows?"

Ryoma nodded and said: "Brother Bao'er is right, warriors should use bows and arrows. But even samurai, the level of bows is uneven. Just like me!" Ryoma pointed to himself, without shame or even He also said with a little pride: "I am also a warrior, but I just don't know how to use a bow!"

"Would you like some face?"

"Hey! Face, it's not important to support a family! Besides, in our era, even low-level samurai had to run around for a living. How could ordinary ashigaru have money and time to learn how to draw a bow? Although the bow is powerful , but it is big and difficult to maintain, every spring when the south wind blows, I am afraid that the bow pieces will get wet, once the bamboo pieces are glued, the whole bow will be considered useless.”

"But the iron cannon is different!" Ryoma picked up the exquisite big teapot, took a sip of the tea, and then said: "This thing doesn't have to stand up straight like a bow to shoot, no matter squatting, kneeling, or lying down, As long as you dare, you can even shoot while lying down! Besides, Ashgaru doesn't have the strength to draw a bow, but he must have the strength to hold an iron cannon!

Besides, this thing is made of iron. When not in use, put it in a dry wooden box and pad it with dry straw to prevent moisture and rust.I also told Yoshihisa of the Shimadzu family that training an archer for three years may not be enough, but training an archer who can shoot with an iron cannon will not even take three days unless the person loses a hand . "

Bao'er asked, "And then?"

"Then he lived in my house for three days, but by noon the next day, he was already proficient in using iron cannons, including charging, loading, aiming, and cleaning the barrel. Ask me later How many iron cannons are there, I told him to add up to 3000 in his hand, and he packed them all."

"It's all packed, so rich?"

"Of course the Shimadzu family is rich! No matter how you say it, his family also has ships to run the sea trade. It's not like those big names in the north of Honshu. They only save money from the farmers' eyes. And according to Shimadzu In the past two years, the Murakami pirates in the Seto Inland Sea have suddenly become bigger and bigger, which has caused a headache for the caravan of the Shimadzu family. I think his family bought so many iron cannons to prepare to die with the Murakami pirates. Knock it!"

Then, Ryoma asked Boa again: "Didn't you come across the pirate ships of the Murakami family when you came back? Recently, many merchant ships have been robbed by the Murakami family in the Seto Inland Sea. Qian paid someone to kill them."

But Bao'er shook her head, saying that her journey has been smooth.

"That's true, maybe they didn't dare to approach your black ship rashly because they saw that your black ship is too big and scary! But it's just right!" Ryoma put on a look of eagerness, and happily said to Bao'er: "Ashikaga The general is about to ask Brother Baoer to take the lead in renting a big ship from Dongbao Marine Merchant!"

"What is he renting a boat for? Is he also planning to go to sea merchants to make money?"

"Where is there? Of course not! How is it possible?" Ryoma shook his head again and again, explaining: "Because it's time to pay tribute to Daimoe once every five years! Such a good opportunity to make money, of course General Ashikaga must prepare one It's big, it can be loaded, and it's also very strong, it's a big boat that won't fall apart!"

……

the second

Thanks to the book friends who rewarded the author on the Qidian platform, sorry for the limited functions of the author assistant, I can’t check the list of Qidian book friends’ rewards in the background, and there is not even a reminder!

The author has nothing to report, so he has to give everyone a fork.

(End of this chapter)