After coming out of Sun's house, Shang Yi rushed to Lin Zhiyang's house for a dinner. On the one hand, he had received an invitation from Lin Zhiyang and had no choice but to go. On the other hand, he had to discuss with the two foreigners.
Let’s talk about buying muskets. Shang Yi couldn’t help but sigh, sometimes socializing is more tiring than fighting.
When he arrived at Lin Zhiyang's home, Shang Yi discovered that Lin Zhiyang had invited many guests, all of whom were local gentry businessmen and prominent figures in Yanzhou. There were dozens of people in total. Lin Zhiyang invited Shang Yi one by one.
However, there were so many people that Shang Yi couldn't remember it at all. He just listened to Lin Zhiyang's introduction and greeted each other one by one. Although there were several people here who had titles or ranks, but those who were actually officials, except for
There is no one except me.
But we cannot underestimate these people because most of them have huge family backgrounds and are inextricably linked to the government. They have considerable mobility. They are ordinary officials and even officials at the county level.
, they don’t need to take it seriously.
It is said that Shang Yi is just a small Qianzong, without even a fixed rank. Under normal circumstances, people here would not even look at him seriously. But first of all, Lin Zhiyang specially invited Shang Yi, and this is not a shame.
Xiao, secondly, everyone knows that Shang Yi is now highly valued by Zeng Hualong, the governor of Denglai, and he has also made great achievements in guarding Yanzhou this time. It is not impossible that he will be promoted to the command and garrison level in the future. Although Shang Yi is not here
Yanzhou Prefecture is an official, but Yanzhou Prefecture and Qingzhou Prefecture are adjacent to each other, so a good relationship with each other will be of great help to both parties in the future. Therefore, everyone is still very polite to Shang Yi, and everyone says some words of praise.
, and at the same time they all pretended to express their gratitude to Shang Yi for holding Yanzhou City.
But Shang Yi knew that in less than a month, Yanzhou Prefecture would be captured by the Qing army. Although the Qing army did not massacre Yanzhou, they also plundered the entire Yanzhou city. After that, the entire local power in Yanzhou would also be reorganized.
After shuffling the cards, most of the people present were probably unlucky. However, he still took advantage of the situation and was polite to everyone.
Although it was a family banquet, it was also very rich. There were fine wines and delicacies, and many beautiful singing girls came and went, playing and playing, singing and dancing to add to the fun. It also made all the guests drink and have fun. Shang Yi also
It was the first time I saw an ancient banquet scene, and I also gained a lot of knowledge in it.
After three rounds of drinking, Lin Zhiyang also asked Lin Feng to invite Shang Yi to a small pavilion. Because this kind of banquet is often an important place for powerful people to discuss and conspire with each other, several such banquets were prepared.
The small pavilion is very private, where guests can discuss business privately, reach conspiracy agreements, etc.
When Shang Yi arrived at the small pavilion, Lin Zhiyang, the two Portuguese businessmen Huang Mao Scola, Red Mao Alonso and the foreign monk Aconia were all waiting for him. Lin Feng was standing guard outside.
With.
After the two parties met, they were polite again, and also praised a few words for defeating the bandits. Akonya also said a few words about the glory of the Lord and God's blessings, which made Shang Yi's face straighten with black lines.
, it seems that this foreign monk has taken care of himself.
After the scene was finished, we got down to business. Scola and Alonso could both speak a few words in French. In addition, Alonso also understood Chinese and had a foreign monk as a translator. Therefore, this session was mainly in French.
The business negotiations, which were also mixed in Portuguese and Chinese, began. Scola first said: "Your Excellency Mr. Qian, Benix and I discussed the request you made last time carefully. The new flintlock gun
, we can only provide you with thirty tubes at most. If there are more, we can’t do it.”
Shang Yi nodded. In his mind, as long as he got a few, it would be great. Now that he has the Sun brothers, plus himself, as long as he has samples, he can copy them and start copycats.
If you can get thirty new-style flintlock guns at one time, what's there to be dissatisfied about? So he said: "Very good, as long as you can get as many as you can, I will accept them. What about the old-style tunnel-fired guns?"
Alonso said: "We can get some of this, but I don't know how much Mr. Qian will do with it?"
Shang Yi said: "I want a thousand, do you have any?"
The two foreigners were so frightened that they opened their mouths. They didn't expect that Shang Yi would ask for so many as soon as he opened his mouth. After a while, Alonso felt confident and said: "We...can only provide about three hundred!" After finishing speaking,
, I feel embarrassed myself.
Because flintlock muskets were manufactured at the beginning of the 17th century and are less than forty years old. Even in Europe, flintlock muskets have begun to be fully assembled, but they have not completely replaced matchlocks. In Asia, even more so
Less, even the old-style flintlock guns, there are only more than 500 assembled in the Portuguese army in Macau. The plan of the two foreigners is: to find a way among the Portuguese army in Macau, and get a batch first
The muskets were bought to Shang Yi, and they would be replenished after new guns were shipped from China.
Because now the Dutch power in Asia is gradually rising, while Spain and Portugal are declining day by day. Spain can only hold on to Manila, and Portugal can only keep a corner of Macau. Other places in Asia are slowly being lost to the Dutch.
As a result, the annual trade volume has been greatly reduced. Scola and Alonso's business has also been declining year by year. They can only collude with officials in the army to make some arms to supplement. It was not easy to catch Shang Yi.
Naturally, the big owner cannot let go easily.
It's just that Shang Yi is not as easy to fool as other Chinese. He is more familiar with muskets than these two foreigners, so he can't fool him with an old-fashioned matchlock gun, so these two foreigners have tried their best in the past two days.
With his connections in Macau, he estimated that he could get more than 200 cigarettes. Unexpectedly, Shang Yi opened his mouth and asked for 1,000 cigarettes. Just now Alonso said that he could provide 300 cigarettes, but he still gritted his teeth.
I mean, I don't have any confidence in my heart at all.
Shang Yi naturally understands these situations to some extent. In fact, he also knows that these two foreigners will definitely not be able to get so many flintlock muskets. Of course, he cannot buy so many muskets at one go, but he deliberately exaggerates the numbers.
Showing his strength in front of foreigners. He doesn't want to just make a one-time deal, because in the future, Shang Yi may still do business with foreigners, so he must create an image in front of foreigners of being wealthy but not stupid and rich.
Foreigners are more realistic in doing business than Chinese people. They only care about money and not people.
So after listening to Alonso's words, Shang Yi nodded and said: "That's okay, three hundred will be three hundred. This is our first business this time, so I'll make do with it, and you can think about it later."
I'll find a way to collect as much as I want."
The two foreigners were relieved. Scola said: "We also have a musket. I wonder if Mr. Qian is also interested?" As he said that, he took out a forty centimeters long one from under the table.
A primitive pistol-style musket came and introduced: "Your Excellency Mr. Qian, this musket can be loaded with four rounds at a time, can be fired continuously, and can be used regardless of wind or rain, which is very convenient. If your army is equipped with this
Planting muskets will definitely greatly enhance their combat effectiveness."
Shang Yi secretly laughed in his heart. It seemed that the foreigner had taken advantage of him again. Of course he knew that the so-called revolving musket was actually the ancestor of the later revolver. It was said to be invented by a German watchmaker John Kievers based on the principle of clocks, because The ammunition is fired by turning the ignition, which can be used under various harsh conditions. It can be loaded with multiple bullets at the same time and the firing speed is very fast. However, the shortcomings are also quite obvious.
So he shook his head without even looking at it, and said: "This kind of revolving musket is not only useful but complex in structure, it is expensive to build, and its range is not far, at most forty or fifty meters. Its other biggest weakness is After using up all the bullets, it is very troublesome to reload them. In short, they can be used for self-defense by senior generals, but they cannot be assembled on a large scale for military use. Am I right?"
The two foreigners opened their mouths again and could not utter a word. Unexpectedly, Shang Yi explained the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of this kind of musket in one sentence. Shang Yi then said: "Since you two have this gun, Now that it’s out, it’s our first time doing business, and I can’t refute your reputation. I’ll buy ten of these guns, and I won’t want any more.”
Although this kind of revolving musket is not mainstream, Shang Yi equipped some for the army, especially for each officer and reconnaissance team, which is also an effective supplement. However, this kind of musket is not urgently needed, so he only bought ten Take it back and slowly copy it later. Maybe you can actually make a revolver?
Seeing that the two foreigners finally had nothing to say, Shang Yi said again: "The sample of the musket has been agreed upon. Can you two make a price?"
Scola said: "The old-style flintlock guns cost eighty taels each, the new ones cost one hundred and sixty taels each, and the rotating muskets cost one hundred and fifty taels each. Mr. Qian, what do you think of this price?"
Shang Yi smiled and said: "The price you two gave is too high. Although you should make money in business, you must also pay attention to fair prices and be honest. The cost of each old-style flintlock gun is less than 20 yuan." taels of silver, and the new model is only more than 30 taels. Although the structure of the revolving musket is complex, the cost is similar to that of the new flintlock gun. Although the two of them deal with each other back and forth, the price of the musket will be higher than normal. But the price is really outrageous, am I right? And I don’t want to do business with you two just once. There is an old saying in China that the future is long."
Alonso smiled bitterly and said: "If it weren't for the fact that you are a Chinese, I would definitely regard you as a Venetian. It seems that your talent is not only on the battlefield, but also in the shopping mall. Not inferior."
Shang Yi also smiled slightly and said: "I feel very honored to receive such praise from you, so can you re-quote me a more reasonable price now?"