The two ships brought by Shedra were medium-sized Galen ships, more than fifty meters in length, and with a displacement of seven hundred tons.
But the hard sails on the ship clearly indicate that it is an Asian imitation of the Galen ship, or an improved version made by the Portuguese in the trenches.
The complicated Western-style soft sails were removed and replaced with hard sails, which made the operation easier and required significantly fewer sailors.
"Each warship has twenty thousand-jin cannons and ten two-thousand-jin heavy cannons. The firepower is very powerful..."
Shedra, accompanied by an interpreter, diligently showed Guo Dajing around and gave an enthusiastic introduction.
Guo Dajing is still interested in artillery, but he is not optimistic about warships. These are ocean-going warships, and Dongjiang Town has no need for long-sea operations.
In addition to the Chinese and Portuguese sailors employed on the ship, there were also two foreigners who came over to accompany them with polite smiles.
"The ship is good, and the artillery is good." Zhang Tao approached Guo Dajing and whispered in a low voice. The fire in his eyes showed his inner expectation.
Guo Dajing remained calm. The artillery was fine, but as for warships, how could he have any extra money?
"The ship is old and has been repaired, and the cannon is also old." Guo Dajing walked around in front of the cannon, observed it carefully, and decided to bargain.
Shedra nodded repeatedly and said: "Yes, the ship has experienced small-scale battles. The cannon is not new, but it has not fired a few shots. Of course, the price can be negotiated."
Guo Dajing still didn't understand what Xiedela meant by selling the ship, and he didn't want Zhang Tao to know some business secrets. He rubbed his chin and was thinking of an excuse, but Zhang Tao had already taken the opportunity to say goodbye and get off the ship.
This guy seemed to really like this big ship. Guo Dajing watched Zhang Tao leave and couldn't help but smile bitterly thinking about his successive looks.
After seeing the musket, Guo Dajing made some guesses, frowned slightly and said, "This musket is also old, and the shape is not consistent."
Shedra didn't take it seriously, and with a smile, accompanied by the two foreigners, invited Guo Dajing into the cabin.
These two warships, together with their cannons, should have been stolen from others, or stolen from pirates. The muskets were also made by the Macau gun factory, some were stolen, and some may have been purchased from other places.
.
Guo Dajing knew how chaotic the ocean was now. Armed merchant ships abounded. It was not surprising that maritime merchants were engaged in both business and piracy.
"These two are French businessmen." Shedra introduced to Guo Dajing, "Henri René and François Martin."
French?!
Guo Dajing had a rough guess that this was because of the secret of the mirror.
Historically, the French spent a lot of money, sent spies, and went through all kinds of hardships to steal a few craftsmen from Venice, thus mastering the secret of the mirror and breaking the Venetian monopoly.
If this is the case, the selling price of hundreds of thousands of taels of silver is really not expensive. The French are so beautiful that they seem to have built some kind of hall of mirrors.
"General Guo holds the secret of glass mirrors, and we are very interested." Henry René said with a smile: "If the price can be lowered, we are willing to invest in buying it out."
Shedra echoed: "Boats, artillery, ammunition, and old muskets can all be discounted as part of the transaction."
Guo Dajing pondered and did not answer immediately. No matter where the ships and guns came from, it was none of his business. The key was that he needed money as well as weapons and ammunition.
But this alone, tens of thousands of taels of silver at best, is far from enough.
The secret of the mercury pewter mirror was quoted to Shedra in the millions. Even though it was reduced to 700,000, if it was any lower, it would be difficult for him to accept it.
You know, after the French obtained the secrets and built factories in Europe to produce and manufacture, they earned not just hundreds of thousands, but millions.
Take these rags - Guo Dajing slowly raised his head and said to Henry René: "Even if it can be discounted, it is only worth tens of thousands of taels of silver at most, which is still far from Guo's quotation."
Henry Rene hurriedly said: "We also brought 600,000 silver coins. I hope General Guo can understand our sincerity."
"Silver coins?" Guo Dajing's eyes lit up, and he reached out to take the silver coins handed over by Henri Rene, looked at them carefully in his hands, and asked curiously: "What's the weight, and what's the quality?"
The Spanish silver dollar was introduced during the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty. "The big one is seven cents and five cents, and the Yi name is Huang Coin Zhi; the second three cents are six cents, and the Yi name is Tulip: and the second coin is eight cents, and the name is Luo Liuli; the small one is nine cents.
, named Huang Lili, all brought from Franji."
After listening to Shedra's explanation, Guo Dajing quickly made an estimate.
Six hundred thousand silver coins, each worth seven cents and a half, are equivalent to 450,000 taels of silver. Adding in the discounted value of ships, cannons, guns, etc., it is almost 500,000 taels of silver.
There is still a shortfall of nearly 200,000 taels from his lowest bid of 700,000 taels.
Guo Dajing hesitated. Of course he was excited to get so much cash at once. But the price difference also made him feel heartbroken.
Xiedra saw that Guo Dajing was interested in making a move, so he quickly added: "Another three thousand muskets and thirty cannons will be delivered before the end of the year."
After a pause, he added: "I and François Martin can stay here until the transaction is finalized and then leave."
You want money rather than life, you crooked nuts are quite good at playing, but how much is a person worth?
Guo Dajing stretched out a finger and said: "Add another hundred thousand silver coins."
"Fifty thousand, it's really not that much. This is already our entire net worth." Rene said with a grimace.
Guo Dajing didn't want to be embarrassed anymore, so he waved his hand vigorously and said: "Without a second thought, the deal will be done for 60,000 yuan."
"Plus the exclusive sales rights of silver mirrors in Europe." Shedra looked at Guo Dajing expectantly with eyes burning.
Guo Dajing stared at Shedra, rolled his eyes angrily, and said, "I won't give you the commission."
Shedra grinned, obviously mentally prepared. The benefits from the Frenchman exceeded the commission.
"Deal!" Henri Rene raised his hand and high-fived the somewhat reluctant Guo Dajing.
There was laughter in the cabin, and the deal was concluded. Guo Dajing actually did not suffer any loss. Knowledge was converted into money, and hundreds of thousands of taels of silver were able to help him complete the big plan in his mind.
Shedra facilitated this transaction and should have made a lot of profits; the Frenchman got the secret of making mirrors, built a factory to manufacture them, and made a lot of money.
The so-called "everyone gets what he needs" has achieved its goal, although not all, and there is not much that is unsatisfactory.
Moreover, the two parties have also established a long-term cooperative relationship. Guo Dajing is not just a good thing like a mirror. Gu Cong
The Western barbarians are plundering the Americas, and there is plenty of gold and silver; the royal families, nobles, and rich people in Europe enjoy their luxury to an astonishing degree.
"General Guo, please give us some time to make the secret of this silver mirror, and collect enough money to buy it again." François Martin, who didn't talk much, suddenly made a request, which made Guo Dajing a little stunned, but also very surprised.
Looking at the foreigner, Guo Dajing asked thoughtfully: "I wonder how long it will take?"
"It's a long sea journey, and it's not easy to travel back and forth. There are many accidents." After Francois Madin finished talking about the difficulties, he stretched out five fingers. Seeing Guo Dajing frowning, he quickly took back two more, "Three years
, up to three years.”
Guo Dajing thought for a while, nodded reluctantly, and said: "Guo can wait for three years, but the price will not drop any more."
"That's natural, that's natural." François Martin smiled happily and agreed without hesitation, "Ten million taels of silver will not let General Guo lose a cent."
What a profiteer!
Guo Dajing had a smile on his face, but in his heart he admired the adventurous spirit of these foreigners.
Do you think they bought the secret recipe to build their own factory and manufacture it? Although they can make a fortune, it is not the best way.
If it were Guo Dajing, after getting the secret recipe, he would go to Europe and find someone to sell it, and make a lot of money for nothing.
This is not over yet. Showcase a better quality silver mirror, use the secret recipe as a inducement, raise funds or take a loan, raise a lot of funds, then come back to buy the secret recipe, and easily earn a huge price difference.
The start-up capital is only nearly one million silver coins, but by flipping it over and over, you can earn millions. It's just a bit more hard work traveling around the sea.
Empty gloves, middlemen! These three foreigners should have calculated well. In two or three years, they can make a fortune and become tycoons.
Well, even the millions of silver coins now may not belong to them. I don’t know where they got the funds from!
But again, how do people operate and how much money they make? Guo Dajing doesn't want to care about it, and he can't care about it. He just wants to achieve his own goals.
If there are really 10 million taels, after three years, it should be the time to compete with Jianlu. Yes, if everything goes well, Liao will not be able to pacify Liao in three years, but it can reverse the balance of strength between the enemy and ourselves.
Five years of Ping Liao?!
Governor Yuan was boasting nonsense, but Guo Dajing was somewhat confident, although not 100% sure. But now Guo Dajing could only rely on his own strength to delay the process of Ping Liao's extermination of the captives.
No matter how many years it takes, the fighting with Jianlu will not stop unless Guo Dajing is gone. Since he is gone, there is no need to worry about the world or where history will go.
Guo Dajing asked Shedra and others to disembark and rest on the shore, along with the sailors on the ship. When the ship was empty, he struggled to put all the silver coins into the space, and then went to call for people to unload the cargo on the ship.
These silver coins were Guo Dajing's private property, and he had the final say on how to spend them. Ideally, they would be used as a deposit for the issuance of military bills.
Simply by seizing land in Liaodong and developing agriculture, it is possible to suppress or even defeat the rebels. But if the economy is developed and a variety of materials can be purchased, the process of pacifying Liao and exterminating the rebels will be greatly accelerated.
Guo Dajing directed the unloading of the goods, and also took inventory and classification. This batch of muskets included new ones, old ones, light ones and heavy ones. Although they were all in good condition, they were not easy to mix.
There are more than 2,800 heavy muskets and more than 700 light muskets. If it is not urgently needed, Guo Dajing really doesn't want to collect these junk.
Although they can be roughly divided into two types: light and heavy, the caliber and shape of heavy muskets are still slightly different.
Among them, 1,500 were manufactured by the Macao Gun Factory, more than 1,000 were made in Spain, and the remaining several hundred were actually made in Siam.
Guo Dajing was not very clear. The Portuguese were the first people to engage in the mercenary industry. From the American colonies to Africa and Asia, there were Portuguese fighting for money all over the world.
In the sixth year of Zhengde, the Portuguese came to Siam and became the first Europeans to arrive in Siam. They not only entered the army of the King of Siam and became the king's mercenaries, but also taught the Siamese how to use and make firearms, making Siam a
The first country in Asia to use and manufacture firearms.
When Siam was at war with the Toungoo Kingdom of Burma, Portuguese mercenaries participated in the battle. However, the Kingdom of Burma also used Portuguese mercenaries to fight against their feuding Siam.
What a mess, Guo Dajing rolled his eyes, these foreigners looked around and sent them all to me.
The two thousand heavy muskets given to Mao Wenlong were of different shapes. Guo Dajing planned to replace a thousand heavy muskets from his own army with Spanish muskets, and concentrated them in one army to unify the guns and ammunition.
There were two auxiliary garrison in Jinzhou, and Guo Dajing could not favor one over the other. Li Weiluan's troops also had to be allocated light and heavy muskets. They gave him one thousand heavy muskets and five hundred light muskets first, and the rest belonged to Guo Dajing.
In this way, Guo Dajing's troops had more than 1,300 heavy muskets and more than 1,000 light muskets. Most of them were paid for by Guo Dajing himself. Li Weiluan could only be grateful and could not find fault.
It was all money. Even though it was at a discount, Guo Dajing still sighed with a wry smile. He treated money like dirt and was selfless...
Unexpectedly, Zhang Tao didn't go far, and just looked at the big ship near the dock with eager eyes.
Guo Dajing smiled, stepped forward to greet him, cupped his hands, and said, "Old Zhang, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed if you're still waiting here!"
Sure enough, Zhang Tao's face fell, but he just nodded with a wry smile and said: "With limited financial resources, don't you know your difficulties? Forget it, this big ship is suitable for high seas and has limited effect on Dongjiang Town."
Guo Dajing immediately looked surprised and said: "So that's it. I have been tricked by the foreign devils. Wait a moment, I will go find them. I don't want to buy this ship. I will return it."
Zhang Tao blinked and then understood the meaning of Guo Dajing's words. He quickly stretched out his hand to hold it and said in surprise: "Did you buy the boat?"
Guo Dajing pretended to be dumbfounded, nodded, and said: "Brother Zhang, if you like it, then buy it!"
"Okay, okay!" Zhang Tao laughed and said, "Then why did you say that I will be disappointed?"
Guo Dajing said seriously: "I want to unload ten artillery pieces from each ship to strengthen the Nanguan defense line. Don't I want to disappoint Brother Zhang?"
Zhang Tao was overjoyed and saw that Guo Dajing was joking. He reached out and patted Guo Dajing and said with a smile: "I owe you. In the future, if you are useful to the Navy, just ask, and I and the Navy will do their best."
.”
Guo Dajing put away his joke, raised his hand in thanks, and asked again: "Jinzhou has established a navy. Who will lead it? Has Commander Mao decided?"
Zhang Tao shook his head and said: "I haven't received the order yet, but you can rest assured that we will not send incompetent generals who will not obey orders."
Guo Dajing hoped that it would be Zhang Tao, and Zhang Tao also hoped that he could stay in Jinzhou, but this was not something they could decide, so they had to wait for Mao Wenlong to weigh the decision.
After chatting with Zhang Tao for a few more words, Guo Dajing said goodbye and went straight to Lushun Fort with his own soldiers.