In the process of continuously strengthening the new army's armaments, Zuo Mengeng discovered an interesting phenomenon.
Because of the cheater like him, the New Army's weapons were almost a hundred or two hundred years behind those of the same generation.
Although this allowed the new army to form a crushing force on the battlefield, this generation difference allowed Zuo Mengeng to see different opportunities.
This generation difference can be fully exploited to conduct lucrative arms trade, thereby obtaining military, political, and economic benefits for our side.
The same is true for the flintlock gun given to Mang Gurtai by General Wu and others, and the same is true for the Napoleon M1841 six-pound field cannon now placed in front of Zheng Zhilong.
As the ceiling in the front-loading smoothbore cannon, the Napoleon cannon was born at the wrong time.
In addition to its great glory only in the American Civil War, it was soon replaced by the fresh breech-loading cannon.
Of course, Napoleon's cannon has nothing to do with France, nor does it have anything to do with Napoleon.
This is actually an American cannon.
Because of the use of collodion explosives, even the heavy artillery of the New Army, which was also a front-loading smoothbore cannon, still far surpassed the Napoleonic cannon.
As a lightweight bronze cannon, the Napoleon gun is easy to produce, powerful, and easy to transport. It is definitely very attractive to the army of this era.
Therefore, when Zuo Mengeng was preparing to attack Songjiang Prefecture, in order to avoid Zheng Zhilong's interference, he used the Napoleon Cannon to believe that Zheng Zhilong would not take the bait.
Just this summer, the Ming Dynasty, headed by Zheng Zhilong, will have a naval battle at Liaoluo Bay that will be remembered in history with the Dutch colonists.
Zheng Zhilong must be aware of how powerful the Dutch are.
Under such circumstances, with the support of an artillery piece with superior performance, I believe Zheng Zhilong will definitely agree to the conditions.
After all, although Songjiang Mansion is good, it is not within Zheng Zhilong's sphere of influence.
Although he is now the commander-in-chief of the Ming Dynasty, he obviously does not have much loyalty to the Ming Dynasty. In the face of huge interests, he will not go against Zuo Mengeng.
Napoleon's cannon completely conquered the Zheng Group.
"Brother, with thirty cannons like this, we will definitely win."
Zheng Zhihu didn't know too many twists and turns. As the most powerful general of the Zheng Group, he only knew that his ship must be equipped with this new type of artillery.
Unlike the simple-minded Zheng Zhihu, Zheng Zhilong has more to weigh.
For a moment, there were no words.
Liao Zhongjian smiled slightly and decided to increase the pressure.
At his signal, the gunners began to dismantle the artillery in public.
In just a few clicks, they opened the iron rings that fixed the cannon ears, and the hundreds of kilograms of cannon barrels were easily removed.
Then there is the gun mount, which can be separated from the wheels by the gunners with a slight lift.
In the blink of an eye, what was originally a good artillery piece turned into parts everywhere.
Everyone in the Zheng family was dumbfounded and their eyes were red at the same time.
Of course they understand what this kind of artillery that can be quickly disassembled means.
"Brother..."
Zheng Zhibao couldn't sit still either.
Liao Zhongjian put forward one last tempting condition.
"If an official needs it, we in Shandong can also specially build ship artillery."
This sentence became the straw that broke the camel's back.
No matter how careful Zheng Zhilong was, he couldn't refuse.
"Brother Zuo's intention is to give me the meaning of fist. But I don't know how much this cannon costs?"
Liao Zhongjian stretched out two fingers.
"The official is my best friend in Shandong. The general orders me to treat you with sincerity."
Zheng Zhilong frowned.
Each cannon was two thousand taels of silver, which was actually a very fair price. But what made him think more was that the price was exactly the same as the toll charged by Zheng.
Zuo Mengeng really has no other purpose?
Liao Zhongjian's next words let him know that he didn't have much choice.
"This is a small cannon. It may not be able to match the strong ships and powerful cannons of the Dutch. If an officer needs it, I, Shandong, will provide heavy artillery."
In the commotion of the crowd, Zheng Zhilong knew that this business had to be done.
This small artillery was already so extraordinary. If there were heavy artillery of the same quality, he would be confident that he could defeat the Dutch in one battle.
Guxi
By then, the price paid for the artillery can be easily earned back by virtue of the advantage of controlling the waterway.
"How much does heavy artillery cost?"
Liao Zhongqian emphasized the difficulty.
"An official is also an expert. It is not easy to forge artillery. This is definitely not a deliberate blackmail by Shandong."
Zheng Zhilong nodded, fully believing in his sincerity.
The scrap rate of artillery casting in this era was quite high. Even in Europe, if you can successfully cast two or three of ten heavy artillery pieces, you are already a top craftsman.
Therefore, the price of artillery does not solely depend on the cost of one gun.
This is also the reason why the price of artillery remains high.
Liao Zhongjian held out five fingers and complained secretly at the same time.
"The commander-in-chief has such a dark heart!"
Five thousand taels of silver seems to be the market price of heavy artillery, and considering the quality of the Napoleon cannon, it seems to be absolutely conscientious.
But in fact, Shandong has already achieved great breakthroughs in the casting technology of artillery.
In particular, the application of internal mold water-cooling technology ensures that the inner and outer tubes of the artillery are cooled at the same rate, greatly reducing the artillery scrap rate.
Even a twelve-pound Napoleon cannon cost only eight hundred and thirty-five taels of silver.
The huge profits from the arms trade can be imagined.
Zheng Zhilong didn't know the trick and had no objections to this quotation.
But he was still stumped.
One hundred six-pound cannons and thirty twelve-pound cannons require a full 350,000 taels of silver.
For today's Zheng Zhilong, it will definitely be a nerve-wracking experience.
But the threat of the Dutch is imminent. Once they lose, no matter how much money they have, it will be advantageous to others.
How to negotiate the price?
He thought about it and thought of a way.
"I wonder if we can barter? I have rare treasures from all over the world. Can I use them as payment?"
What Liao Zhongjian has been waiting for is now.
"I think there is a way to get the best of both worlds."
Zheng Zhilong couldn't help but be a little more careful.
"Want to hear the details."
Liao Zhongjian pointed to the east.
"It is said that the Japanese shogunate wants to ban the sea and cut off trade. The one who can communicate with it in the future is probably an official. The official also knows that we have a lot of products in Shandong, and we need to sell them to the outside world. I don't know if the land of Japan can be sold to the outside world.
Will Shandong be opened?"
Zheng Zhilong's face immediately turned cold.
Japan's market has long been regarded as forbidden by him, how can he allow others to get involved?
This conflict with the Dutch was actually related to the shogunate's ban on the sea.
Rumors have already spread in Japan that from now on we will only do business with one or two companies, and it will be limited to Hirado and Nagasaki.
In other words, whoever wins between him and the Dutch will occupy this trade route.
Now Zuo Mengeng wants a third party to intervene, which is equivalent to touching the dragon's reverse scale.
Seeing that Zheng Zhilong wanted to fall out, Liao Zhongjian hurriedly explained.
"The glass business that was previously entrusted to Ichiguan remains unchanged. I, Shandong, also sell other goods, and do not set foot in Hirado or Nagasaki. I only trade with Tsushima. And each ship will pay taxes as usual."
When he said this, Zheng Zhilong's expression immediately relaxed.
"I had known that Brother Zuo was benevolent and righteous. When I saw him today, I was filled with emotion. Doing business with Brother Zuo is a pleasure, hahahahaha..."
During the Tokugawa shogunate period, there were two places that could trade with foreign countries.
One is Hirado Domain, which is Nagasaki;
There is another place, Tsushima.
The Hirado Domain specialized in trade with Southeast Asia, while the Tsushima Domain specialized in trade with Korea.
Compared with the Hirado Domain, Tsuima Domain has no sense of existence in Zheng Zhilong's eyes.
