"Mr. Santos." Lin Tiansheng walked over, smiled and greeted the leading Portuguese man, and said: "General Guo is both wise and brave, and he has a long-term vision. If he wants to hire Westerners, he will definitely not make a mistake."
Santos nodded and said in blunt Chinese: "With Mr. Lin's guarantee, I definitely believe it. I just don't know General Guo's character, so I'm worried that it won't be easy to get along with him."
"General Guo is only brave in killing enemies, but he is very kind and harmonious when getting along with others." Lin Tiansheng comforted him: "You just need to rest assured."
As he said this, Lin Tiansheng saw Guo Dajing and others approaching quickly. He smiled and pointed his hand and said, "Look, General Guo is here."
Guo Dajing came to the dock, dismounted from his horse, nodded to the young officer who came forward to salute, and ordered: "Let them disembark and go ashore!"
After setting up the gangplank, Lin Tiansheng took the lead on the pier and bowed his hands to Guo Dajing who came up to him, saying, "The common people have seen Mr. Guo."
Guo Dajing smiled heartily and said: "Brother Lin, how can you be so polite? What a joke are you kidding Guo!"
Lin Tiansheng laughed, turned slightly, and introduced several Portuguese people to Guo Dajing, "Santos, Dornaro, Xiedela, officers and technicians hired from Haojing."
"Welcome, welcome." Guo Dajing raised his hand repeatedly and glanced at the three entourage. There was actually a black man and two others who seemed to be Han Chinese.
The total population in Haojing is about 10,000. However, there are only more than 1,000 real Portuguese citizens. There are many local people, or Ming people, living there. There are also Ming people who were born in Haojing and accepted the Portuguese
People educate.
Lin Wan'er stood behind her elder brother and looked at General Guo with her big eyes blinking. She felt that he looked like a martial artist, which seemed a little different from what her elder brother said.
"This -" Lin Tiansheng felt helpless and introduced with a wry smile: "My sister-in-law, Lin Wan'er."
Guo Dajing chuckled and said, "Miss Lin, nice to meet you, nice to meet you."
"Master Guo, you are polite." Lin Wan'er was dressed in men's clothing, looking like a handsome young man. She put away the folding fan in her hand and bowed her hands.
She was a spoiled girl, nondescript, and Guo Dajing didn't care. He turned to Lin Tiansheng and asked, "Mr. Fujino didn't come back with you?"
Lin Tiansheng said: "Mr. Fujino is still in the trench. In two or three months, he will escort another batch of firecrackers back."
"That's it." Guo Dajing felt relieved, and everything was fine. He also saw the entourage sent back by Fujino Masaru, nodded, then turned around and warmly invited everyone to rest at the inn not far from the pier.
The so-called inn is not very big, and it is not open to the public. It is intended for foreign businessmen to rest temporarily. But the location is good, built on a high hill, with decent sea view rooms.
The sound of horse hoofbeats was rapid. Guo Dajing turned around and saw that it was Hide Fujino who had received the news and came to pick up his father.
The horse was traveling very fast, and the wind blew Fujino Hide's hair, showing her urgency and longing for her father.
Guo Dajing sighed secretly in his heart, took a few steps forward, and stretched out his hand to say hello.
Fujino Hide flew off his horse, ran to Guo Dajing with clean movements, widened his eyes and asked: "Where is my father?"
"Mr. Fujino is still in the trench. He will have to wait for the musket to be built in a few months before returning by boat." Guo Dajing explained harmoniously: "The Lin family has sent people to take care of him, and everything is fine with him."
A look of disappointment instantly appeared on Fujino Hide's face. She lowered her head slightly and murmured in an almost inaudible voice: "It will take a few more months..."
Guo Dajing was silent for a moment and said warmly: "Come on, let's meet the guests from far away. They should have brought a lot of good things. You can choose whatever you want."
Fujino Hide lowered his head and rolled his eyes, but there was still a feeling of warmth in his heart. This stinky man, seeing that he was unhappy, was trying to coax others!
"Woman?!" Lin Wan'er's eyes widened in disbelief, "A woman who can run around on horseback?"
Lin Tiansheng rolled his eyes at the girl and said in a deep voice: "She is Mr. Fujino's daughter. Unlike Akito, you can't even think of imitating her."
"Japanese girl!" Lin Wan'er suddenly realized, but her eyes still shone with envy.
Fujino Hide followed Guo Dajing like a personal secretary. After a brief greeting with everyone, they arrived at the inn together.
Everyone chose a room, put their parcel boxes in, and then simply washed up.
Guo Dajing and Fujino Hide were sitting in the hall, looking through the list of goods sent by Lin Tiansheng and the letter sent by Fujino Masaru.
Good guy, this old devil Fujino is really good at spending money. He thinks that my money is blown by the strong wind.
Guo Dajing felt happy when he saw the heavy musket, but when he saw the red cannon, the flesh on his face couldn't help but jump twice.
The most urgent need is a heavy musket. The Hongyi Cannon is not the weapon Guo Dajing wants to buy the most. It is heavy, inconvenient to move, and has a slow rate of fire. It is just fine for defending a city. It is really not needed.
.
Heavy muskets cost eight liang each, which was a little expensive, but the Portuguese also wanted to make money. Guo Dajing was still willing to accept the gun if he was thirsty for it.
You should know that the cost of making a Ming Dynasty bird gun is usually one or two taels, and at most it does not exceed three taels.
If we use later generations of renminbi to measure the number, eight taels of silver is equivalent to at least more than 5,000 yuan. In Guo Dajing's opinion, it is indeed not cheap.
But the price needed to be decided. Guo Dajing wanted to make it himself, but he didn't have enough time. If he could win with money, he thought it would be worth it.
As for Fujino Masa's additional order quantity, Guo Dajing still believed that more heavy muskets would be better.
Obviously, Fujino Masaru did not know that Guo Dajing's entire intention was to determine the arms order based on the number of officers and soldiers on Guanglu Island.
Next year's battle in Jinzhou will have at least 1,500 heavy muskets. Guo Dajing is quite satisfied with this, and his confidence in victory is also rising.
"The silk is good, and there's also rouge and gouache!" Fujino Hide looked at another list, a smile broke out on his face, and asked Guo Dajing: "Are you going to open a grocery store on the island?"
Guo Dajing smiled and said: "I just told him to buy some daily groceries. Who knows he will get everything. As for the grocery store, it doesn't matter whether it is open or not. As for daily necessities, we still implement a rationing system."
After a pause, he added: "Let me make it clear this time that we will only purchase bulk commodities such as grain, cotton, cloth, refined iron, etc. from the south. Daily necessities will be purchased from Dengzhou nearby."
If people want to live, small groceries such as needles, threads, and brains are indispensable. As for grocery stores, if you have money on hand, you can buy better goods.
"I'm getting these goods for free and I won't give you any money." Fujino Hide explained in advance, quite confidently.
Guo Dajing chuckled, waved his hand nonchalantly, and said, "No problem."
Speaking of which, these goods were all purchased by Guo Dajing with his own money. It was said that there was nothing wrong with him at all, and of course he could take and use them at will.
Fujino Hide was very satisfied and felt that Sister Li Xiu might not be treated like this. At least, he was the first to choose, which put pressure on Sister Li Xiu.
"By the way, that guy who looks like black charcoal, is it painted on, or is it just that black?" Fujino Hide asked curiously: "Is he the legendary Kunlun slave?"
"Africans, black people." Guo Dajing said with a smile: "Unlike the Kunlun slaves, you don't have to make a fuss and stare at others."
Oh, Fujino Hide seemed to understand. He frowned slightly and thought divergently, "The skin is so dark, and the flesh is also black, right? What about the blood? You have to cut it with a knife to see clearly."
Stop, stop! Guo Dajing quickly interrupted Fujino Hide's dangerous thoughts and said: "It's just that the skin is dark, and the flesh and blood are red."
Just as he was talking, Lin Tiansheng and Lin Waner walked into the hall, smiling and saying hello.
Guo Dajing warmly invited Lin Tiansheng to sit down and said, "Thank you very much, Brother Lin. Ten thousand stones of food, together with guns and other commodities, can solve Guo's urgent need."
Lin Tiansheng smiled and waved his hand and said: "Keep your word. As a businessman, Lin's family motto is to operate with integrity."
Guo Dajing said: "Brother Lin is generous and advanced a huge sum of money. Guo is very grateful and will send the money in full tomorrow."
"No rush, no rush." Lin Tiansheng waved his hands and said with a smile: "I absolutely trust Mr. Guo's integrity and admire him very much."
Guo Dajing smiled and said: "If Brother Lin is not in a hurry, he will stay on the island for a few more days. Guo will have a good discussion with Brother Lin about the next business."
"Then I won't bother you too much." Lin Tiansheng agreed happily.
Lin Wan'er was very interested in Fujino Ying's neat attire. After staring at it for a long time, she leaned over and said with a smile: "Sister Ying, I want to wear clothes like yours and ride horses with you."
The little mouth is quite sweet, Fujino Hide has picked out a lot of things, and his mood has improved as if he was going to a mall. He smiled and said to Lin Wan'er: "Okay, I will give you a set, and then I will take you around the island.
Look at the scenery everywhere.”
Lin Tiansheng raised his hand and then put it down helplessly. Fujino Hide happily agreed, but if he stopped him again, it would be a disgrace to him.
Forget it, no one on this island knows my sister. She will leave in a few days, and no one will give her a bad reputation.
Several Portuguese people also finished cleaning up and came to the hall to sit together. Guo Dajing was equally enthusiastic and asked more questions.
Santos is more skilled in gun handling, while Dornaro and Ciedra were technicians at the Macao gun factory and are relatively good at casting guns.
Lin Tiansheng and Fujino Masaru are very reliable, and all three of them can be used. Shedra, in particular, will be the key to Guanglu Island's own guns.
"One hundred taels of bride price per year and eight taels of additional expenses per month. As long as the three of them are really capable, there will be no problem." Guo Dajing's face was relaxed, but his heart was bleeding. What a waste of money!
Guo Dajing sent Fujinomasa to Macau to recruit people. He didn't know the specific price, but he estimated it based on the salary of the first-level defense.
Obviously, Fujino Masaru and Lin Tiansheng also spent a lot of time and energy in bargaining before settling on the amount for hiring these Portuguese people.
Well, we must carefully select smart soldiers from the army. If not, we can do it ourselves. In one year, we must learn how to operate artillery.
Guo Dajing secretly made up his mind, thinking that only Shedra could be hired on a long-term basis. If he could make guns, he would also make cannons, which was not a task that could be completed in a year or two.
The Portuguese was very happy to see Guo Dajing. All his original worries were gone, and the atmosphere of the conversation became more relaxed.
As for their entourage, Guo Dajing also followed the terms negotiated by Fujinomasa with them and only took care of the food without paying any additional salary.
After Wu Jiuzheng arrived, Guo Dajing handed him the job of entertaining the Portuguese and left the inn with Lin Tiansheng, brother and sister and Fujino Hide.
On the island, Guo Dajing also built a large courtyard as a place to receive closer guests and discuss important matters.
Obviously, Lin Tiansheng's generosity and trustworthiness won Guo Dajing's trust and he became the first guest to stay here.
Guo Dajing asked people to arrange food and drinks. He smiled mysteriously and said to Lin Tiansheng, "Please wait a moment." With that, he walked into the side hall and closed the door.
Lin Tiansheng guessed what Guo Dajing was preparing, and it was probably the precious mirror. He couldn't help but smile, and sat down to drink tea and wait in peace.
Lin Waner and Fujino Hide sat together, talking affectionately and chatting, which seemed very speculative.
When the time was short, Guo Dajing opened the door and made an invitation gesture with a smile, "Brother Lin, please come in and take a look!"
Lin Tiansheng laughed, got up and walked towards the side hall. Fujino Ying and Lin Wan'er were also attracted, and followed them laughing and chatting.
Even though he was prepared in his heart, as soon as Lin Tiansheng entered the room and saw a dozen large and small mirrors on the big table, he was still so surprised that his mouth opened wide.
Guo Dajing is very good at posing. The sunlight shining in from the west-slanting sun is reflected by the mirror at different angles. The light is radiating and the light and shadow are scattered, giving people a dazzling feeling.
Fujino Hide and Lin Waner were also in a state of shock. Although they both had small mirrors, they knew they were very precious and carried them carefully.
But so many people appeared at once, coupled with the effect of light and shadow, both girls' eyes widened with expressions of disbelief.
Especially the largest mirror in the middle, which is about a foot square and has a wooden frame, it can illuminate half of a person's body in detail.
After a long while, Lin Tiansheng took a deep breath and returned to normal. He cupped his hands towards Guo Dajing and said, "Master Guo, you are so mysterious and unpredictable."
Guo Dajing laughed and said: "Brother Lin, in return for your generous help, you will be the exclusive agent of this mirror from now on."
After a pause, he added: "Brother Lin must have guessed that Guo has mastered the technology of making precious mirrors and is going to use this as capital to make a lot of money and do great things."
Lin Tiansheng took a deep breath again, digesting this shocking information, so that his mind could wake up from the shock as soon as possible.
"You guys can enjoy it slowly, or sit down and drink tea and talk in detail." Guo Dajing's face was full of pride, he was showing off his cards to see if you were afraid.
Lin Tiansheng slowly sat down and stared at the mirror on the table. Only then did he realize that the shapes of the mirrors were not consistent, but they were all framed with wood and had handles that could be held, which was very convenient.
"Master Guo, this wooden frame -" Lin Tiansheng shook his head gently, with a sad expression on his face, "It's a waste of natural resources!"
Guo Dajing shrugged his shoulders and said nonchalantly: "There are no skilled craftsmen on the island, so we can only deal with it. Brother Lin takes it to Jiangnan, whether it is inlaid with gold or jade, it is up to him."
Fujino Hide finally came to his senses, secretly rolled his eyes at Guo Dajing, and focused his gaze on the largest mirror again.