Yang Xiuqing flicked her sleeves and said, "Quick, please come in, Mr. Mas."
When the eunuch heard this, he immediately went to deliver the order.
Not long after, Mas stepped into the main hall. Although Mas was Italian, he had lived in China for several years and recognized the lifestyle here. He was wearing Chinese clothes and carrying a small round hat. Wearing a hat and dressed like a local, he walked in the main hall, bowed and saluted: "Your Excellency, King Dong."
Fu Shanxiang said solemnly: "When you see Dong Wang, why don't you kneel down."
Yang Xiuqing flicked her sleeves and said with a smile: "Prime Minister Fu, I allow Mr. Mas not to kneel down. He comes from far away Italy and is our most expensive guest."
Mas said: "Thank you, His Excellency Dong Wang, for your understanding."
Yang Xiuqing stepped down from the dragon chair and sat on the left side of the hall. He waved his hand for Mas to sit on the right side. In this way, the distance between the two people was once again closer, and there would not be too much distance. Yang Xiuqing He leaned forward slightly and said with a smile: "Mr. Mas, I have brought a lot of good goods to Tianjing this time. I am in urgent need of weapons support."
Originally, the leaders of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, headed by Hong Xiuquan and Yang Xiuqing, were extremely resistant to foreigners.
Just seeing the powerful weapons of Li Zhen's soldiers changed their attention.
At this time, Maas began to auction weapons again, and he and Yang Xiuqing hit it off immediately. There was no embarrassment at all when he was driven out of Nanjing. Maas listened to Yang Xiuqing's words and said with a smile: "Your Excellency Dong Wang, this time I brought you Good goods, not only that, I am also planning to negotiate a deal with His Excellency Dong Wang, I think this will be very beneficial to you."
"Oh, what kind of deal?"
Yang Xiuqing's eyes lit up, full of anticipation.
Fu Shanxiang sat next to Yang Xiuqing and stared at Mas closely, fearing that Mas would be unfavorable to Yang Xiuqing.
Mas smiled and said: "Your Excellency Dong Wang, let's not talk about the business, let's talk about the guns and ammunition I brought. This time, I brought a batch of guns, a total of 10,000 guns and 500,000 rounds of ammunition. But it’s a big quantity, I don’t know if His Excellency Dong Wang can eat it.”
"Ten thousand guns."
After hearing this, Fu Shanxiang gasped.
This number is too huge.
Most of the Taiping Army used steel knives. After all, the cost of steel knives was not high and they were not easy to damage. If the soldiers used foreign guns, even though the foreign guns were powerful, they would consume a lot of money. Fu Shanxiang thought of the current financial situation of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. , feeling worried in his heart, he interrupted and asked: "Mr. Mas, how do you calculate the price of your 10,000 guns?"
The price issue is her biggest concern.
Fu Shanxiang assisted Yang Xiuqing in handling political affairs and was very concerned about money issues.
Mas said with a smile: "I have always been very fair about the price of guns. Your Excellency Dong Wang knows this very well. Businessmen in Britain, France and other countries sell very bad guns for hundreds of taels of silver each. I The guns manufactured by the family's Beretta company are powerful and low-priced. Each gun costs only 75 taels of silver, and 10,000 guns cost 750,000 taels of silver. This price is definitely high quality and affordable."
Fu Shanxiang said: "Mr. Mas, would you like to give me 500,000 rounds of ammunition as a gift?"
"Oh, my God."
After listening to Fu Shanxiang's words, Mas stretched out his hand and made a few gestures in front of his chest, with a surprised look on his face, and said: "Beautiful and noble lady, you shocked me too much. Five hundred thousand rounds of bullets require a lot of manpower and material resources to complete." For these five hundred thousand rounds of ammunition alone, if you ask the British and French merchants, the price will definitely be no less than 150,000 taels of silver. Now, I only charge 50,000 taels of silver. Together with the guns and ammunition, the total is Eight hundred thousand taels of silver."
Fu Shanxiang frowned slightly, feeling embarrassed about the price.
Yang Xiuqing was extremely happy, nodded and said: "Mr. Mas is indeed a fair and virtuous businessman. I agree with Mr. Mas's proposal, and the deal is settled for 800,000 taels of silver."
Fu Shanxiang interrupted: "Mr. Mas, the prince and I have something to say. Could you please wait outside the palace for a moment?"
Mas smiled and said: "It doesn't matter, I'll wait outside."
After Fu Shanxiang waited for Mas to go out, he said seriously: "Your Majesty, there is not much money in the treasury. If you buy these 800,000 taels of silver weapons, you may face a financial crisis."
Yang Xiuqing asked: "How much money is left in the treasury?"
Fu Shanxiang said: "No more than 1.5 million taels of silver."
"ah,."
Yang Xiuqing exclaimed and said, "How come it consumes so much?"
Fu Shanxiang sighed helplessly and said: "After the capital was established in Tianjing, countless money has been consumed in the past two years to repair the Tianwang Mansion, Beiwang Mansion, Yanwang Mansion, etc. Moreover, there are still a large number of soldiers who need supplies and money. It is being consumed very quickly and cannot keep up with the supply. Please think again, Your Majesty."
Yang Xiuqing said: "In that case, let's increase taxes."
Fu Shanxiang said: "Your Majesty, taxation will make the people disappointed in us and it will be detrimental to us."
Yang Xiuqing said in a deep voice: "Without the Taiping Army, can the people be at peace? You have to tell the people about our difficulties and let them understand our difficulties. With this premise, the people will support us."
Fu Shanxiang felt helpless, especially when he saw Yang Xiuqing's determined expression, he felt helpless.
Yang Xiuqing raised her head and shouted: "Please come in, Mr. Mas."
After the words fell, Mas quickly walked in again.
Yang Xiuqing said: "Mr. Mas, you just said that besides weapons, there is another deal. I don't know what this deal is. Tell me and listen."
Mas nodded and said with a smile: "Your Excellency Dong Wang, the thing is like this. I used the advantages of my arsenal to form an army of one thousand people. These one thousand soldiers are all retired from various countries. The soldiers are all well-trained veterans. I have equipped them with sophisticated weapons and given them the best meat supplies so that they can fight well. They are an invincible team. If His Excellency Dong Wang is willing to fight, If you hire them with a certain amount of money, you can let them do anything for you. During this period, you don’t need Dong Wang to supply weapons, I will provide weapons, whatever Dong Wang wishes."
After hearing this, Yang Xiuqing asked: "How is the combat effectiveness?"
Mas said: "Your Excellency Dong Wang, we have been cooperating for a long time. Don't you still believe me? One of these soldiers is as good as ten. They are all sharpshooters. They are extremely powerful. It is absolutely cost-effective for Your Excellency Dong Wang to hire these soldiers."
Yang Xiuqing's eyes lit up and asked: "How much."
Mas said: "Two hundred thousand taels of silver, the time is half a year. During this half year, they will do anything for you. Your Excellency Dong Wang will not be responsible for death or injury, and they will definitely obey your orders."
After hearing this, Yang Xiuqing was immediately moved and said loudly: "Okay, I wish us a happy cooperation."
Fu Shanxiang wanted to cry but had no tears, and was even more worried in his heart.
If there is no money in the national treasury, how will the country function next?