Chapter 224 Trip to Vietnam (7)

The Military and Police Department made very detailed preparations for this weapon demonstration in advance. Different from the original demonstration given to "Furuifeng" Li Nai and others, this time it focused more on practical tactical demonstrations rather than on

It is a separate display of the power of one gun and one cannon. The artillery's fixed-point strike capability, the musketeers' actual combat fire formation, and even the final bayonet function display were all specially arranged by the Military and Police Department for the purpose of allowing visitors to visit this place.

The North Vietnamese customers who attended the weapons demonstration recognized the practical value of these murderous weapons on the battlefield.

When Tao Donglai was serving in the army, he had seen many foreign officers who came to see weapons demonstrations. Now the expression on Zheng Zao's face reminded Tao Donglai of those who traveled thousands of miles to China to buy arms.

African Oatmeal - Envy, excitement, eagerness, he almost opened his mouth to shout "buy, buy, buy". It was this experience of observing the weapon demonstration process at close range that made the executive committee agree to let him take the lead personally.

For this arms trade negotiation, Schneider, who is better at business negotiations, was not transferred back from Guangzhou.

Observing this weapons demonstration with Zheng Zha were several of his entourages. Although these people were all wearing casual clothes, their true identities could easily be seen from their gestures - these people were probably

They are all officers under the Zheng family. The expressions on their faces are basically the same as Zheng Zha's, full of desire for new weapons.

Sure enough, Zheng Zha immediately proposed to let his people test-fire the muskets. Tao Donglai readily agreed and asked Wang Tom to provide guidance. After all, the batch of matchlock guns sold already used gunpowder packaged in paper packages.

The loading method was probably somewhat different from what these Vietnamese soldiers knew. The militiamen quickly re-erected several conspicuous wooden targets painted white in the distance. This thoughtful consideration of details made Zheng Zha

I couldn't help but nod slightly, admiring the meticulousness of Haihan people's work.

After a series of test firings, Zheng Zha's men all expressed their approval for the maneuverability of this weapon. At this time, the militiamen also carried back several targets in the distance and asked them to confirm that they were testing the weapons.

The results. The shooting accuracy of muskets is very limited, so these targets are only placed at a distance of fifty meters, which effectively ensures that some bullets can hit the target. But the Vietnamese obviously don't care much.

They seem to care more about the accuracy of the muskets and the probability of successful firing of these muskets. At this point, the quality of these matchlock guns produced by the Cross-Travel Group is obviously better than those of its contemporary competitors. As long as there are no problems in the operation process, the firing rate will be high.

It can be maintained at about 90%.

As for the artillery, even if Zheng Zha wants to test-fire it, there is nothing he can do. This thing is not as simple to operate as a matchlock gun. Just cleaning the barrel and loading ammunition require a certain amount of training to learn, otherwise it will easily explode.

accident. After Tao Donglai explained how powerful it was, Zheng Zao did not persist. He only carefully observed the appearance and workmanship of these artillery pieces at close range. Since Vietnam did not master the technology of casting artillery pieces, Zheng Zao also

I really can't see what's good or bad about it. I just think that the black artillery is very intimidating just by looking at it. If you can equip your own troops with this weapon, it will be worth paying even a small price.

Zheng Zhu was about to ask Tao Donglai for the third time, but this time Tao Donglai beat him to it.

"It's getting late, why don't we have dinner first, eat and drink enough, refresh ourselves, and then continue talking about business!" Tao Donglai said with a smile, blocking Zheng Zao's words back.

.

Zheng Zha looked at the sky and saw that it was indeed dinner time. He was busy watching the weapons demonstration of the Haihan people, and several hours had passed before he knew it. Zheng Zha did not refuse and followed Tao Dong back to the tent.

Zheng Zha is not a second-generation official who knows nothing. On the contrary, he is considered to be a leader with outstanding abilities among the second generation of North Vietnamese officials. Otherwise, Zheng Zha would not have sent him as a representative of the Zheng family in North Vietnam.

This trade negotiation. But in terms of skill at the negotiating table, ten Zheng Zha bundled together can't compete with one Tao Donglai. Unconsciously, Zheng Zha has gradually entered the opponent's rhythm.

Although the weapons sale was still on his mind, Zheng Zha's attention was quickly diverted to the delicious food in front of him. The use of a variety of seasonings and spices made Guan Er, who thought he was living a luxurious life,

Dai's eyes were opened again, and Tao Donglai also took the opportunity to sell edible spices to him and gave him a small amount of samples as gifts. Zheng Zha showed great interest in this, but the spice trade will have to wait until next year at the earliest.

In the middle of the year, the spice crops grown by Chuanchuan Group in Sanya will usher in the first harvest season.

Considering that there were still transaction details that needed to be discussed by both parties after the meal, Tao Donglai did not bring out alcoholic beverages during this dinner, so as not to accidentally overwhelm Zheng Zha and delay the business. Zheng Zha did not completely forget his own

The mission is to constantly find out information about the Haihan people in casual conversations.

After a pleasant dinner, the two parties returned to the negotiating table to continue the unfinished negotiations in the afternoon. Zheng Zha finally heard the weapons quotation he had been waiting for.

Type 27 matchlock gun, thirty taels of silver each, containing thirty rounds of special ammunition and a special cowhide armed ammunition sling, as well as the flat-blade bayonet that Zheng Zha attaches great importance to. Type 27 A artillery, one thousand two hundred taels of silver.

Door, including ten rounds of ammunition and pull-type ignition tube, a full set of loading and sighting tools, and a special movable gun mount. Type 27 B artillery, 2,500 taels of silver each, including accessories

Same as Type A artillery. As for the subsequent ammunition supply price, musket ammunition is 200 taels per thousand rounds, artillery ammunition Type A is 200 taels per 100 rounds, and type B artillery ammunition is 400 taels per 100 rounds.

This time the arms quotation was much higher than the price previously sold to "Furuifeng". The price of muskets was 2.5 times that of the time, while the price of artillery was 2 times and 2.5 times respectively - this is almost the price of "Furuifeng".

"It was trafficked to Fujian and sold to local forces at a sales terminal price.

Of course, with such a high price quoted, the Executive Committee did not intend for the other party to agree to it outright, leaving room for counter-offering. Considering that the other party may purchase a large number of weapons for the establishment of the army,

Therefore, the supply price of ammunition was directly reported this time. As the saying goes, "When a cannon is fired, there is ten thousand taels of gold." Naturally, the supply price of subsequent ammunition is also very high.

Zheng Zha also trembled in his heart when he heard this. Of course, he had expected that the price of these things would be very high, but he never expected that it would be so expensive. Thirty-two muskets each, so a thousand-man musketeer army would be needed.

It would cost at least 30,000 taels of silver! And the price of the artillery was even more astonishing. After watching the artillery demonstration, Zheng Zha originally planned to order 100 units of each type of artillery. Now it seems that due to funding issues, this plan must be

Just need to change it.

And that's not all. The accessory ammunition provided by the Haihan people is extremely limited. I'm afraid it is only enough for training. If you really want to train a firearms unit to fight on the battlefield, you will probably have to spend money to buy their sky-high price ammunition.

A profiteer! Zheng Zha secretly labeled the smiling tiger Tao Donglai sitting opposite him in his heart. But Zheng Zha couldn't just slap the table and leave because of the high price quoted by the other party. After seeing the weapon demonstration, Zheng Zha knew this.

You have to buy things. If Zheng doesn't buy them, maybe the Hai Han people will go south to Hue early tomorrow morning to sell these murderous weapons to the Nguyen family. The only way is to see how to lower the selling price of the Hai Han people.

.

Zheng Zha suddenly remembered that Tao Donglai had mentioned in the afternoon that the artillery would be used as rent in exchange for the development rights of Heitu Port, and he immediately asked Tao Donglai about it again.

Tao Donglai nodded and said: "Yes, we can use ten Type 27-A artillery pieces to pay you as the one-year rent of Black Tu Port, and our requirement is to obtain the local power of Black Tu Port during the lease period.

Development rights, residence rights and governance rights. Of course, under this premise, we recognize that the territorial rights of this area belong to the Annan Kingdom, and you are also welcome to send officials to the area to participate in civil administration."

Tao Donglai's words can be regarded as very diplomatic skills - first of all, you have to recognize the power I have in Heitu Port, so that I will recognize that sovereignty belongs to you; secondly, you can only send civilian personnel there, as for the armed forces

No need to talk about it.

However, Zheng Zha was not as powerful as Tao Donglai thought. He was not fully aware of the contents implied in Tao Donglai's words. Zheng Zha was thinking about another thing in his mind: According to what is now known,

, the only local product in Black Tu Port is coal. The current price of coal in Shenglong Province is only two or three taels of silver per thousand catties. If converted according to the price of Haihan artillery, ten cannons cost more than 10,000 taels of silver. The rent for that year

It can probably buy several million kilograms of coal, and the income from taking back Black Earth Port will obviously not be that high. It is just an extra coal pit under Zheng's rule. From this point of view, handing over the land to

It seems to be more cost-effective for Haihan people to just sit back and collect the rent.

Tao Donglai also believed that this was a very good deal. It seemed that he made a lot of money less, but in fact, the cost of manufacturing ten 6-pound cannons was not much. It was less than a thousand yuan when converted. For such a small amount,

The investment is exchanged for a year of peace in the Black Earth Port area. This is a very worthwhile deal for the Crossing Group, which currently has insufficient military strength.

So the two sides quickly reached an agreement on the status of Black Tu Port. As the actual leader of the North Vietnamese regime, Zheng will recognize the power of the Haihan people in Black Tu Port and will not interfere in the local management and operation in principle. However, Zheng, as the ruler, will

The organizers will send local officials to the Black Tu Port area to supervise local operations as observers to ensure that the Haihan people do not divide the territory and split the territory. For this reason, the Haihan side must promise not to sell similar weapons to the southern rebels.

The Haihan side will deliver ten artillery pieces to the North Vietnamese Zheng family at the end of each year at the business inn on the Doshan Peninsula as the cost of renting the Black Tu Port for one year, and all local residents will be controlled by the Haihan Executive Committee and the Black Tu Port Management Committee.

It will be managed. As for the lease period, Tao Donglai and Zheng Zha discussed it and tentatively decided it to be ten years. After the expiration, they will discuss renewal matters based on the situation at that time. Of course, Tao Donglai knew very well that after ten years, there would probably be no lease.

If there are any negotiations to renew the contract, it is very likely that within ten years, that place will be placed under the name of the Haihan regime and become the territory of the future republic.

However, the concession-type agreement between the two parties, including the Tushan Peninsula area that has been negotiated before, will only remain at the stage of oral agreement and will not be implemented into a written agreement in black and white. Zheng is worried about himself

As a powerful minister, after all, he has not yet reached the stage of seeking to usurp the throne. If the Zheng family privately signs such an agreement involving territory with the Haihan people on behalf of the Hou Li Dynasty, it will undoubtedly hand a big deal into the hands of the Haihan people.

, Zheng will not do such a stupid thing. And the Time Travel Group originally did not want to sign any paper agreement. Once such a thing is signed, it will only bring trouble to the future use of "since ancient times" to regain territory.

Unnecessary trouble.

So the two sides miraculously reached such an important land agreement. Zheng Zha believed that the Haihan people were not strong enough to occupy North Vietnam's territory. Moreover, they seemed to be bent on making money and did not show any evil intentions. They were willing to

If you want to dig coal in Black Earth Port, it's good enough to dig it. Tao Donglai believes that the Zheng family in North Vietnam will have to rely on the arms supply of the Crossing Group for a long time to come, so there is no need to worry about North Vietnam going back on its word and endangering the country.

The safety of the Black Earth Port. Both parties believe that they have something to rely on, and there is no need to worry about the other party breaking the contract easily.

But Zheng Zha would not agree so quickly to the quotation for muskets and artillery. Although these items were rare in North Vietnam, it did not mean that Zheng Zha would allow his family to be ripped off by Haihan. Zheng Zha's

The counteroffer was only half of the quoted price, which was obviously not within the price range that Tao Donglai expected.

However, Tao Donglai is not in a hurry, because he has already determined that the other party will definitely buy it in the end, but the price may affect the specific purchase volume. As for whether the arms trade should pursue high profits or sales volume, this issue is decided by the Executive Committee

The meeting has already reached a conclusion internally.

Almost all executive committee members believe that the arms trade should expand the sales scale as much as possible on the basis of ensuring reasonable profits. The sales profit of a single weapon does not need to be too high, but the quantity sold must be large. Because only large-scale installations

, in order to ensure Haihan's influence in the local military system, thereby giving Haihan the opportunity to intervene in local affairs to seek benefits, and subsequent military training, ammunition supply, weapon maintenance and even the replacement of next-generation weapons will not be able to escape from the control.

Dependence on Haihan Military Industry.

As for whether such large-scale arms sales will pose a threat to itself, the Executive Committee believes that under the careful planning of relevant departments, this possibility is extremely slim. First of all, there is a performance gap between exported weapons and domestically used weapons.

difference. If this generation gap is to be smoothed out through the number of troops, the price the other party will have to pay will be huge. Secondly, the headquarters of the Crossing Group is located on Hainan Island. Any arms export target who wants to fight against the Crossing Group will have to pay a huge price.

It must come across the sea, and the advantages of the crossing group in coastal defenses are unbeatable by all navies of the same era. Of course, it will take time to realize this advantage. Large-scale coastal defense artillery defense systems and

The formation of artillery into an organic form is not a plan that can be accomplished overnight.

Vietnam, which was caught in a civil war, obviously did not have the ability to attack cross-sea groups. They had neither strong maritime power nor enough energy to expand their power overseas. This civil war would have lasted until the second half of the 17th century in its original history.

, and after the Time Travel Group appears in this time and space, it can completely interfere with the process of this war to a certain extent through arms trade according to its own needs - if necessary, it can completely provide some arms to the Ruan family in the south to avoid

This war has turned into a one-sided farce. When the Executive Committee deems it necessary to directly intervene, it can then make strategic adjustments.

As for agreeing to Zheng Zha's weapons monopoly, Tao Donglai thinks that this is not a problem - at worst, he can just find a few agents to play the role of white gloves. Tao Donglai even thought about it on the way to Vietnam, and it is appropriate

When the time comes, you can send Old Morgan or Bearded Johnson to Hue to discuss arms trade with the Nguyen regime in the south as Western maritime merchants. At that time, the muskets and artillery sold to the Nguyen clan in the south will only need to be slightly modified in appearance.

Adjustments should be made to distinguish them from weapons sold to the North, so that even if both sides use advanced firearms on the battlefield in the future, the crossing group will have a reasonable excuse to deny ignorance to the North Vietnamese regime.

After several rounds of bargaining, Tao Donglai felt that the other party's patience had probably been worn out, so he threw out his trump card: "Mr. Zheng, if you insist on asking us to lower the price, it's not impossible.

But then we probably won’t be able to provide you with follow-up weapons use training services.”

Zheng Zha suddenly came to his senses. He was only focused on bargaining with the Haihan people, but he forgot about the use of these weapons after buying them back. The muskets were okay, and at least there were some knowledgeable officers. Loading and use was not a problem, it was just the kind of rotational shooting.

The formation of the gun requires special training. As for the Haihan artillery, without special training, I am afraid that I will not even know how to use this thing, let alone put it into use on the battlefield.

At that moment, Zheng Zhuo asked, "What do you mean?"

"Considering that the arms transaction between us is not a one-time deal and may require long-term dealings in the future, we have already made a comprehensive plan for this." Tao Donglai introduced to Zheng Zha with a smile: "We will

Set up a training camp here and provide you with one hundred military advisors, who are responsible for training your soldiers so that they can learn the techniques and tactics of using muskets and artillery on the battlefield in a short period of time. Of course, these military advisors

The salary and daily training expenses of the training camp will be borne by you."
Chapter completed!