Number of People

  Chapter 680 E-Scroll Arms Broker?

   "Caomin Zhuang Limin has met Mr. Feng."

  The green shirt and long robe have a good bearing, and you can't tell that you are a merchant or a workshop owner. This is Zhuang Limin's first impression of Feng Ziying, which is very good.

   "Mr. Zhuang, please sit down." Feng Ziying nodded and raised her hand.

   After bowing his hands and saluting, the man in green shirt didn't have the flattering and shameless attitude of some other businessmen, but sat down calmly.

  The meeting place is the Guangdong Guild Hall.

   In the morning Feng Tang went to the Ministry of War and agreed to accept three thousand Lumi guns, which made Chai Ke overjoyed.

This batch of firecrackers, which were regarded as tasteless by the Ministry of War, was rejected by the Shenji Battalion, and the person in charge at the time was no longer in office. Pursuant to responsibility, missing.

Silver is a small matter, more than 30,000 taels is not a small amount, but it can't be called a large amount. As long as someone takes over, everything is easy to talk about, especially Feng Tang, who himself has to allocate a large sum of money to the Liaodong court. Deductible right now.

"Caomin would like to thank the governor for accepting these Lumi guns, otherwise Zhuang would really not know how to explain to other workshop owners and owners after returning." Zhuang Limin sighed, "This has been delayed for three or four years. Unexpectedly, Master Xiao and Master Zhao are gone, and several adults in the Ministry of War are unwilling to take over. Fortunately, your father..."

   "Mr. Zhuang, you are welcome. I came to see Mr. Zhuang today. I just want to understand the ins and outs of the production of these firecrackers. I also have some questions to ask." Feng Ziying also cut to the chase.

"Master Feng, just ask, as long as Mr. Zhuang knows, he will tell you everything." Zhuang Limin hurriedly said: "As for the origin of this batch of firecrackers, we actually don't know. It was the Guangdong Capital who contacted us and asked us. Whether several workshops can make firecrackers, we have never done it before, but Dusi said that there are blueprints, and we only need to follow the production process of the blueprints. After reading it, we think it can be done, so we made this The business is over, there are seven workshops in total, because we have never done it before, so we are trying to take it slowly, especially the production of gun barrels is more complicated,..."

  There is nothing to hide, so Zhuang Limin told the story openly.

"The money from the Ministry of War is hard to get. After you have given the 10,000 taels of silver, it will be difficult to ask for it later. I ran twice, and the Ministry of War said that it will not pay the follow-up money until it is completed and accepted. We have no choice. I can only bite the bullet and go on,..."

  Feng Ziying listened very carefully, "Mr. Zhuang, I want to ask, you seven workshops, 3,000 pieces have been made for four years?"

"Master Feng, you may not know much about the production method of this kind of Lumi gun. The barrel of this gun needs to be made into a coil with refined iron, and then drilled. It has never been done before, and even a worker can't do it in a month. Make a gun barrel, of course, after we have done it now, we are getting familiar with it, and we can make a gun barrel in about half a month, with quick hands and feet, and even three gun barrels in a month..."

Zhuang Limin obviously came prepared, "After taking over the job, we invited two Xiyi craftsmen to give advice, and recruited some workers again, and the production process has also made great progress. If several companies come to make these 3,000 guns, they can be made in a year, and the quality can be improved a lot,..."

  Feng Ziying laughed, this is also a shrewd person, he can smell the smell right away.

   It is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any merchant to be able to attract such a big client as the governor of Jiliao, especially these Guangdong and Guangxi merchants are even more keen. Who doesn't know that Liaodong is the main battlefield of the Great Zhou?

   "What about the self-generating firecracker?" Feng Ziying asked directly without being polite.

"Self-generated firecrackers?" Zhuang Limin hesitated for a moment, and asked with some doubts: "Master Feng, self-generated firecrackers and firecrackers are completely different things. It's very difficult, we don't have the ability to make this kind of device yet, but does the imperial court really need self-generating firecrackers?"

   "Why do you ask that?" Feng Ziying asked with a smile: "Shouldn't the imperial court need better firecrackers?"

"Zhuang doesn't mean that. If you want to buy self-generated firecrackers from Xiyi, the price of one is at least thirty taels of silver, or even higher, and it is a used half-new old one. Of course, if you buy it in large quantities If you buy, for example, more than 500 pieces, the price may drop slightly, but the supply is very difficult, and it will take at least a year from the purchase in Xiyi to the delivery to Guangzhou, is the court willing?"

  Zhuang Limin doubted whether the imperial court had this determination.

   "Mr. Zhuang means that this kind of self-generating firecrackers can still be purchased in Guangzhou?" Feng Ziying ignored Zhuang Wenjing's doubts.

"If it's thirty-five taels of silver, if Mr. Feng needs it urgently, Zhuang can search for it in Guangzhou and try his best to satisfy it. The price does not exceed thirty-five taels of silver per stick. If it exceeds one hundred, there is nothing you can do. You have to go to Su Go to Lu Manila, there are more than 300 sticks, I guess it will be difficult to buy them in Nanyang, so we have to go to the native land of the Xiyi people.”

  Zhuang Limin realized that there might be a big deal coming, and he was very excited.

  Master Feng is definitely not representing himself, but asking for his father.

The new Governor of Jiliao and General Soldier of Liaodong, it is said that when he goes to Liaodong to take office, the imperial court will give him millions of taels of food and salary, even if 20 to 30% is used to purchase weapons, it will be two to three hundred thousand taels of silver. You can also buy 20,000 to 30,000 pieces, and you can buy thousands of pieces even for self-generating firecrackers.

"Oh, it seems that Mr. Zhuang is very sure, not only in Guangzhou, but also in Nanyang?" Feng Ziying did not doubt the other party's ability, and the character who can be linked with the former minister of the Ministry of War Xiao Daheng is not easy to get. generation.

   This guy doesn't look like a pure arms broker, but rather a wealthy businessman who is backed by a workshop but has extensive connections in Guangdong, Guangxi and Nanyang.

   Zhuang Limin laughed, he knew that his statement had finally made the other party interested.

"Master Feng, other Zhuangs don't dare to boast, but in this regard, Zhuang still dares to pat this chest. In the past, the imperial court needed weapons such as knives and guns. If there is no time for the military battle, Zhuang will be responsible for it." Zhang Luo for the imperial court, and later the three-eyed blunderbuss and the target gun were also made by Zhuang for the imperial court, and Foshan’s iron smelting is famous all over the world, and it is not comparable to the capital city, I must have heard of this point.”

Zhuang Limin's face was full of pride, "As for the doorway, Zhuang can say that in Nanyang and Japan, Zhuang can still talk. If adults need these Lumi guns urgently, Zhuang can even go to The quality of Japan’s purchase of Japanese guns for adults is not inferior to this batch of Lumi guns, two or three thousand pieces can be purchased for adults within half a year, but the price may be more expensive.”

   "You mean that our Dazhou is not as good as the Japanese in the production ability of this kind of firecracker?" Feng Ziying asked.

"That's not true. The Japanese are still strengthening their armaments after the Imjin Japanese Invasion. Their emperor doesn't seem to care much. The general Tokugawa who is in charge of power has not been able to completely control the whole of Japan. Some generals below seem to be not very good. Convinced, so they are all buying weapons, bird guns are also the most important part of them, and we in Dazhou pay more attention to cannons, but not too much on fire guns. The original three-eyed guns and target guns are purchased It was seven or eight years ago. In the past few years, there was only this batch of Lumi guns. It was also four years ago. Of course, I don’t know if the Beijing Division’s Bingjue has been produced. The quality is worse."

Zhuang Limin's frank answer made Feng Ziying have an intuitive comparison of the firearm production capabilities of China and Japan, "You mean that the Japanese mainly have internal disputes, so they have been continuously purchasing firearms, while the Dazhou mainly has no demand. , but be able to rapidly scale up production scale and capabilities if needed?"

"Well, I dare not say it in other places. If the demand from the imperial court in Foshan can continue, many workshops can quickly purchase equipment and recruit craftsmen and apprentices. It is actually not difficult to switch to this kind of Lumi blunderbuss as long as there are blueprints. It’s just that there are differences in the time and quality required for each production, but if the production is really continued, these gaps can be slowly made up within a year or two.”

  Feng Ziying looked at Zhuang Limin, with a little more inquiry and curiosity in his eyes, "Mr. Zhuang, your identity makes me very curious. Can you tell me whether you are in business or a workshop?"

Zhuang Limin also stood up with a smile and made a formal salute, "It is a great honor for Zhuang to be able to make Xiao Feng Xiuzhuan, who has come up with the strategy of opening the sea, so important. The largest old Zhuangji iron smelting workshop in Foshan is Zhuang's property. In addition, Zhuang is in Guangzhou. There are also 20 boats, this time Zhuang has paid a ten-year franchise fee, and the Zhuangji Warehouse in Guangzhou is also owned by the Zhuang family."

   No wonder, it is a big player who integrates industry and trade, and Qi is a maritime merchant, so it is normal to be able to catch Xiao Daheng's line.

   "Well, it turns out that Mr. Zhuang is also a maritime merchant, and there is also an iron smelting workshop. The business of more than 30,000 taels of silver should not be in the eyes of Mr. Zhuang." Feng Ziying nodded slightly.

Guangzhou's current trade status has gradually surpassed that of Ningbo and Quanzhang. Its special geographical location makes it more advantageous in the face of Nanyang trade. However, once Ningbo and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are completely liberalized, especially with Japan and North Korea. However, there are still some variables in the development of Fanfan. After all, Ningbo Quanzhou directly faces the hinterland of Jiangnan.

"The business of three hundred taels of silver is also a business." Zhuang Limin shook his head, looking at Feng Ziying with clear eyes, "What's more, Zhuang also hopes to maintain this business forever. China will become more and more important.”

  (end of this chapter)