Chapter 235 Additional Conditions

During this period, the Ming army had actually installed firearms on a large scale, especially matchlock guns and various firecrackers in the infantry units. The amount of rocket equipment was quite large, and the soldiers who used firearms accounted for about one-third of the total number of soldiers. Moreover, Fujian

Coastal areas have always been hardest hit by pirates, and the Ming army here is relatively well-equipped, which is much better than the troops in remote areas like Yazhou Shuizhai. When Luo Shengdong raided the Yulin Fishing Village and crossed the masses, if it weren't for the muskets they were equipped with,

If he is too old and can only fight with cold weapons, he might be able to kill a few time travellers.

The regular Ming army might not be able to defeat the pirates of the "Eighteen Zhi" at sea, but they could rely on their superior equipment to maintain an undefeated situation on land. But Xu Xinsu suffered a loss only if he accepted it.

It was too late to recruit troops, and it was not until the war situation began to get tense that they thought of joining the imperial court. For a while, they would not be able to receive the firearms that the Ming army equipped for the regular army, and the limited firearms they had in hand were no worse than the "Eighteen Zhi" in quality.

, but the quantitative gap is really too big, so they have always been in a passive situation of being beaten.

Xu Xinsu also asked the Dutch for help after the war, but because "Eighteen Zhi" also had trade relations with the Dutch, the Dutch finally chose to remain neutral and not help each other. If it weren't for the arms shipped from Guangdong,

In a hurry, the territory controlled by Xu Xinsu will only become smaller and smaller, and will eventually be wiped out by the "Eighteen Zhi" in Zhongzuo the following year.

There are a small number of Ming Army standard firearms in Xu Xinsu's army. According to the feedback information obtained by "Fu Ruifeng" from Fujian, it can be basically determined that the monkey version of the arms currently exported by the Chuanchuan Group is still superior to the current Ming Army standard firearms in terms of performance.

, and the price sold by "Fu Ruifeng" is basically the same as the black market price of Ming military firearms. The only thing that dissatisfied Xu Xinsu's side is that the quantity of this batch of arms is too small, especially the muskets - "Fu Ruifeng"

"Of the two hundred guns purchased last time, only 150 were delivered in the first batch. However, the fifty guns shipped to Guangzhou by the second echelon of the Garrison Office in Guangdong were intercepted by "Furuifeng" and prepared.

Give your own militia equipment.

Although Xu Xinsu is not as powerful as the "Eighteen Zhi" in terms of numbers, he still has thousands of people under his command. How can these more than a hundred muskets be enough? After two high-intensity battles, the new guns have begun to have sporadic results.

Malfunctions occur, and there are no local craftsmen who are familiar with firearm repairs. Once something goes wrong, there is no way to repair it. The most terrible thing is that the ammunition issued by these guns is very limited, and it is almost running out.

The muskets were okay, with thirty rounds of ammunition per shot, but the ammunition for the artillery was simply terrible, with only ten rounds. Xu Xinsu didn't even bother to use the original ammunition in the first battle, until the second battle because

The pressure was too great, so I had to use the original ammunition, which was said to be very powerful.

This high-priced ammunition did not disappoint Xu Xinsu. Not only did its range be one-third longer than that of home-made ammunition, but the propellant powder packaged by weight was easy to load, and the firing method of pulling the fire tube was also smoother and safer. However,

After this battle, all the original ammunition distributed was used. As long as the cannonballs were measured to the correct size, they could be made by themselves, but the powerful gunpowder was a rarity. Xu Xinsu summoned craftsmen from many places in Zhangzhou, Quanzhou, and Fuzhou

After studying together, we finally couldn't figure out what exactly the ingredients of this unique gunpowder were, and how it was made into such uniform and fine particles. You must know that the gunpowder of the same era was all in powder form. The craftsmen tried out a variety of formulas.

None of them could reach the same level of power, and the tense situation left Xu Xinsu with little time to slowly engage in scientific research, so the only solution left for him was to continue buying and buying.

The arms deal between "Fu Ruifeng" and Xu Xinsu is very secretive, and only a handful of senior officials from both parties know about it. This is not because "Fu Ruifeng" wants to dominate Fujian's arms market, but because once the news leaks out,

Rumors, it is very likely to bring great trouble to "Fu Ruifeng" - more than half of the places along the coast of Fu Guang are currently under the control of "Eighteen Zhi". If these pirates find out about "Fu Ruifeng"

Ruifeng" sells arms to their opponents, and the consequences can be imagined.

In order to ensure the security of future arms transactions, both parties are already planning to change the trading channel from sea to land. Although this change will greatly increase transportation costs and transportation time, it will also greatly reduce the risks of arms transportation. "10

No matter how powerful the "Bazhi" can be, it will only be at sea, and their power will not be able to penetrate deep into the inland areas. Xu Xinsu believes that as long as her own firepower is strong enough to a certain extent, it will be a matter of time before she regains the initiative on the battlefield.

After listening to Li Nai's account, Tao Donglai pondered: "Have the arms currently sold to Fujian attracted the attention of local officials?"

Li Nai shook his head and said, "Don't worry about that. Xu Xinsu was probably worried that his large-scale purchase would be misunderstood by his boss, Mr. Yu, so he claimed that he purchased these firearms from Folangjiren with his own money, and added our selling price to the public.

It has been pushed up a lot, and the Ming army may not be interested in such high-priced weapons."

You will be interested in a year or two! Tao Donglai thought with some malice in his heart that when the Northeast was tight again and the Ministry of War of the Ming Dynasty wanted to buy weapons, the prosperous Fujian coast would naturally attract their attention.

Having said that, even if the Ming army wants to purchase weapons from Chuan Chuan Group, the order will have to be scheduled until next year. The existing arms production capacity is still tight in Fujian and Vietnam, and other major customers cannot be considered for the time being.

Yan Chujie asked: "Mr. Li, based on your understanding of the situation in Fujian, is it possible for Xu Xinsu to purchase large quantities of weapons from us in the future?"

Li Nai said solemnly: "According to my father's estimation, the current number of purchases is just the beginning. Xu Xinsu and the Eighteen Zhi are already in a fight to the death, but the territory, manpower, and ships controlled by the Eighteen Zhi's side are all

It is several times stronger than Xu Xinsu. If he wants to win this battle, he can only rely on the quick guns and artillery provided by Haihan."

Tao Donglai said: "If Xu Xinsu wants to buy a large amount of our arms in the future, then we need to put forward an additional condition."

Li Nai said in shock: "Do you want to increase the price?"

"Price increase?" Tao Donglai smiled and shook his head: "What we are short of now is not money."

Li Nai has been to Victory Port twice and has a relatively good understanding of the situation of the crossing group. He understood what Tao Donglai meant after thinking about it for a while: "Ship?"

"That's right, it's a ship!" Tao Donglai nodded approvingly: "As the largest maritime merchant along the coast of Fujian, Xu Xinsu should have many ships under his command, right?"

"Although I don't know the exact number, there are always three to four hundred ships." Li Nai responded.

"There are many large ships that can cross the ocean, right?" Tao Donglai asked next.

"There should be dozens of ships." Li Nai had already vaguely guessed the conditions Tao Donglai was going to propose next.

"Whether it's renting or selling, within two months, let him provide us with a batch of 400-material sea-going ships as soon as possible. If he is not willing to cooperate, then we will limit the subsequent supply of arms." Tao Donglaihao.

The conditions were put forward without concealment.

"A batch?" Li Nai had some doubts about this vague number.

"A batch means no less than ten ships." Yue Zhiyun from the Ministry of Shipping took over and said: "Don't fool us with those disposable cargo ships that go to Southeast Asia."

The so-called disposable cargo ships are because the foreign trade exports of the Ming Dynasty exceeded their imports at that time, and ships going to Southeast Asia for trade often came back empty. In order to reduce transportation costs, many maritime merchants used extremely cheap miscellaneous wood to build ships and simplify them as much as possible.

The structure of the ship's hull is just that it can run one way. After arriving in Batavia or Manila, they will sell the ship and its cargo together, and then take another ship back. The cost of building this kind of ship is extremely low, and it is basically impossible to talk about it.

What quality.

"It's best to bring sailors with you. You know, sailors here are a scarce resource." Tao Donglai added: "As for the cost of the ship, it can be deducted from the arms purchased in the future."

Li Nai asked hesitantly: "Then if Xu Xinsu agrees to this condition, what benefits will he get?"

"We guarantee that he can purchase at least 200 muskets, five 6-pounders and 12-pounders each month from Port Victory, or from you. In addition, the supply of ammunition can be increased on the existing basis." Tao

The "preferential" conditions offered by Donglai were also very limited. Compared with the additional conditions offered to the other party, they can be described as mean.

But Li Nai knew that Xu Xinsu, who was far away in Fujian, probably had no choice at all. Regardless of whether he was willing or not, he would eventually have to accept the conditions of the Haihan people. Because apart from here, Xu Xinsu would not be able to find another family that could offer him long-term benefits.

Even the Dutch who have built a stronghold in Taiwan cannot do this. If Xu Xinsu wants to continue to fight against the "Eighteen Zhi", she can only follow the arrangements of the Haihan people and provide them with maritime supplies.

of transportation capacity.

Li Nai also knew what the Haihan people wanted to do with so many ships. With their ability, it was only a matter of time before they could expand their business to several trading ports along the coast of the mainland and even in Southeast Asia. But now the Haihan people's actions

We are trying every possible way to shorten the time required in between.

After having been in contact with the Haihan people for a long time, Li Nai also learned a little bit about the way the Haihan people look at problems. They have a clear purpose in everything they do, but this purpose does not only affect the present, but also

It is probably due to longer-term and deeper considerations - in the words of Haihan people, this is called "looking at problems from a macro perspective".

Now that Li Nai thought back on the entire arms trade process, he admired the Haihan people's "macro" vision even more. From the beginning, the Haihan people had already made plans to sell the arms to Xu Xinsu's side. At that time, Li Nai really believed that the matter

As the Haihan people said, the purpose of choosing the target for sale is to maintain the balance of power in the war in Fujian, so that more arms can be sold during a longer war period and more profits can be made. But now Li Nai thinks that in addition to this

In addition to the reasons, the Haihan people actually have another plan - to use the arms trade to tie up Xu Xinsu, so that he has to provide maritime transportation capacity for the Haihan people for a long time. Xu Xinsu's ships are all ready-made, which is comparable to the Haihan people themselves.

It is much faster to try your luck in buying second-hand ships in Guangzhou and place an order with the shipyard to schedule shipbuilding.

Of course, this kind of calculation must be based on an accurate prediction of the situation. If the war situation was tense at that time not Xu Xinsu but "Eighteen Zhi", then the threat of stockout proposed by the Haihan people now would be useless.

. Or maybe the weapons were sold to "Eighteen Zhi" from the beginning. Then maybe the Zhongzuo Institute has changed its name and Xu Xinsu's head has been hung on the wall of Zhangzhou City. And this of the Haihan people

This is not the first time that this ability of accurate prediction has been demonstrated.

Just before Li Nai left Guangzhou, Emperor Tianqi passed away, and the news of King Xin's succession has been rushed to Guangzhou from 800 miles away. The people who were most stimulated by this news were not the local officials, but the people who had accepted it beforehand.

Li Jifeng, the big shop owner of "Fu Ruifeng" who Schneider revealed the information about. Although King Xin had not officially held his enthronement ceremony when the news reached Guangzhou, Li Jifeng no longer doubted the prediction ability of the Haihan people. At this time, Li Jifeng

He informed the Haihan people's predictions to his two sons who came back from other places. This terrifying ability to predict things also left a deep imprint on Li Nai's heart.

Li Nai believes that during the two-month arms trade process, the development of the situation has also confirmed the correctness of these decisions made by the Haihan people step by step. Almost every step is progressing in accordance with the wishes of the Haihan people, especially this time

The additional transaction requirements put forward by the Haihan people fully prove that they have a comprehensive plan for the subsequent development.

Regarding these conditions, Li Nai could only agree unconditionally. Anyway, it was not "Fu Ruifeng" who was going to ship out the ship, and his family would not suffer any actual economic losses in the process. As for Fujian, I believe that at the moment

Xu Xinsu, who was in an unfavorable situation in the war, should be "happy" to be the enemy after learning the news - anyway, a considerable number of his ships are currently blocked offshore and unable to get out, so it would be more useful to replace them with Haihan.

The arms are back.

The Ministry of Shipping then proposed that ships from Fujian be allowed to load immigrants and materials in Guangzhou before heading south to Victory Port. Currently, the Crossing Group is facing two major tasks: the arrival of the immigration wave and increasing production capacity, and the amount of materials required will also be greatly increased.

Increase, especially the extremely limited local production of cloth, saltpeter, sulfur, copper, etc., must mostly be purchased from the mainland. For this reason, the Executive Committee has long been interested in establishing a direct flight route between Victory Port and Guangzhou, but it has been

Suffering from insufficient maritime transport capacity, it seems that we have seen a glimmer of hope to solve the problem.

Tao Donglai said: "Since Mr. Li agrees, we will regard Furifeng as having expressed its attitude. In order to save time, we will notify the Guangzhou Guangdong Office and Mr. Schneider will contact your bank to handle the follow-up matters."

If we had to wait for the "Fu Ruifeng" ship to return to Guangzhou and then slowly contact Fujian, it would be at least ten days late. The executive committee would definitely not want to waste so much time on unnecessary waiting.

Immediately, someone took the minutes of the meeting and went to the communications center and sent a telegram to the Guangdong Office. If everything goes well, Schneider will visit Li Jifeng at the latest tomorrow to discuss requesting ships from Fujian.

Li Nai came to Victory Port this time and did not intend to return to Guangzhou in the short term. After the deal was completed, the two ships would return to Guangzhou carrying the purchased Haihan products, and he would stay in Victory Port to supervise

The construction of shops and other facilities invested here. Of course, the so-called supervision of construction is just a reason. The real reason is that Li Jifeng hopes to have a deeper understanding of the daily operations of the Haihan people, and has established a relatively good relationship with the Haihan people.

Li Nai, who has a harmonious relationship, is definitely the most suitable candidate.

Tao Donglai heard that Li Nai was going to stay in Victory Port for a while, but he didn't take it seriously. The last time Li Nai came to Victory Port, he stayed there for about ten days. Moreover, the executive committee did not plan to impose a ban on Li Nai.

, because his scope of activities is actually only the area from Victory Port to Base No. 1. There are currently only two production units, the shipyard and the wood factory, and there are not many secrets at all. The executive committee believes that with Li Nai’s

Level, you can't steal divisions from these two places. As for the Tiandu Industrial Zone and the military camp, which are designated as restricted areas, Li Nai can't enter either without the guidance of a time traveler.

Several charcoal kilns built near Base No. 1 at the beginning of the landing were all shut down as the fuel problem was solved. This was not because there was no need for charcoal anymore, but because this place was too close to the residential area, and people who traveled through it were busy.

The reaction dust is too large. There are still several charcoal kilns in Tiandu area that continue to operate, and most of the charcoal produced is used in chemical production rather than being burned as fuel. For example, gunpowder, which is currently in great demand, requires a large amount of

Charcoal is used as raw material.

However, the scale of the wood factory and shipyard has now expanded a lot compared to a few months ago. The wood drying room has also grown from the original one to the current five. The wood processed at the same time can be used to build four ships with a displacement of 200.

It is used for Chinese-style sailing ships of about 100 tons. The experimental wooden ship on the dock of the shipyard has basically taken shape. Li Nai had already noticed the existence of the ship when he entered the port by boat. He wanted to take this opportunity to take a good look.

Let’s take a look at what kind of ship the Haihan people with many skilled craftsmen can build.

At the routine reception banquet that day, Li Nai was once again fooled into drunkenness by a group of unscrupulous talkers. After getting up the next day, Li Nai packed up, had breakfast, and first went to the construction site of Shengli Port Business District.

I was relieved when I saw my own supervisor and the craftsmen had already entered the site and started construction. The executive committee allocated five acres of land to "Fu Ruifeng" in one go, where a commercial building with a warehouse will be built.

A hotel, a restaurant and a brothel. Because "Fu Ruifeng" was the first foreign merchant to invest here, it also got priority in choosing the location. At that time, Li Nai and He Qiang did not choose the location closest to the pier.

Instead of choosing a place, we chose the piece of land closest to the gate of Base No. 1.
Chapter completed!