() While eating venison prepared with exotic techniques, Huang Chen said to Valdez: "Your Excellency Valdez, do you have any extra weapons?"
"Extra weapons?" Valdez wiped his mouth with a napkin and looked at Huang Chen with his brown eyes. Last year, Valdez led 300 Spanish soldiers and 600 Filipino soldiers to attack the Dutchman, but the result was that
Without seeing the Dutchman, he was hindered by storms and natives, and the operation ended in failure. During that journey, many of his men died. Later, when they came to the chicken coop, some people died of disease and illness.
Handed by the natives, his arsenal is now filled with all kinds of idle weapons.
Huang Chen nodded and said: "Yes. During the battle with the "Houston", my men were no less brave and good at fighting than the Dutch, but they paid much more than the other side to win the victory.
The price, because Lord Valdes may have guessed, is that the Dutch have the best weapons in Europe, but my men have nothing. If my men can be equipped with the same excellent weapons, I believe we will encounter them again in the future.
Dutch, my men will win easily."
Valdes secretly laughed at Huang Chen for overestimating his abilities. Although he hated the Dutch extremely, he recognized him as a member of civilization. Ming Dynasty? It is said that their king and officials abused the poor, embezzled, cheated, and robbed... which was unheard of.
They treated their people tyrannically, and none of the people wanted to be loyal to their king. Every one of them spoke ill of their neighbors; almost all of them were pirates... barbarians, pagans, robbers...
Sad nation...
However, selling weapons to Huang Chen can not only clear out the weapons inventory, but also cause trouble for the Dutch. Valdez has no reason to refuse: "It's a coincidence that I happen to have some idle weapons in my arsenal. What you need
thing."
Huang Chen raised his eyebrows slightly. Things went smoothly unexpectedly. He asked, "What's everything?"
Valdez said eloquently: "Spears, swords, iron helmets, plate armor, all kinds of firearms and cannons, everything is available."
"I'm not very interested in spears and swords," Huang Chen said: "Iron helmets, plate armor, firearms, cannons, as long as the price is right, I will buy them all."
"Are you sure?" Valdez couldn't help but remind Huang Chen: "There may be more things in my arsenal than you think." There are not only weapons left by dead soldiers in the arsenal, but also the weapons left by the Dutch soldiers who fought with senior officials last year.
The amount of military supplies prepared for the war is extremely considerable.
Huang Chen didn't take it seriously. There were only so many Spaniards in the chicken coop. Is it possible that they could each be equipped with ten sets of equipment? Seeing Huang Chen's confident face, Valdez took out a notebook from the drawer and turned to the weapon catalog page.
, after retaining the necessary reserves, said: "120 iron helmets, 80 chest plate armors, 180 light arquebuses, 100 heavy muskets, 30 revolvers, and 20 artillery pieces."
"Your Excellency Valdez, the truth is that the quantity is less than I thought." Huang Chen curled his lips and said. With such a small amount, Valdez was actually afraid that he wouldn't be able to eat it, and he underestimated him.
Valders was a little dissatisfied with Huang Chen's tone and said: "Although they are not many in number, they can play a huge role."
Huang Chen was noncommittal and asked: "What type of artillery is it?"
"Naval guns and a small number of fortress guns."
"No field artillery?"
"..." Valders glanced at Huang Chen in surprise, why did the pirates want a field cannon?
Huang Chen understood what the other party was thinking and said: "Your Excellency Valdez, don't use the standards of Western pirates to measure us. We are completely different from them. When you have thousands or even tens of thousands of subordinates, you will be able to fight on the sea.
, land, anywhere and against any force, including countries."
"Your country has a large population." Valdez couldn't tell whether his words were complimentary or derogatory, and he added: "I'm sorry, I have a limited number of field guns and I can't sell them to you."
Huang Chen had naval guns and fortress guns, but no field guns. Seeing that Valdez refused to sell, he frowned. He believed that everything has a price, and the only difference is whether you can afford it or not. He ended decisively.
Topic. Concentrate on destroying the food in front of you.
Soon Valdes raised his glass and said to Huang Chen: "This is Spanish wine, the best wine in the world."
Huang Chen gently shook the red wine in his hand and said with a half-smile: "Your Excellency Valdez, there is some Spanish wine and some French wine on my prize "Houston"."
Valdes said: "French wine is as good as Spanish wine, but for me, Spanish wine is the best. - The Spanish wine you get from the Dutch ship may not be authentic. Come and taste this.
"
"Very good." Huang Chen took a brief sip. Valdes did not lie. His Spanish wine did taste better than what he had drunk before.
Valdez smiled heartily and said: "I am very happy that my wine can be appreciated by an Asian."
Huang Chen said: "As an Asian, I am also very happy to drink the best wine in Europe."
Valders noticed that Huang Chen used the word Europe instead of the world, but he didn't care. He had no intention of forcibly distorting other people's ideas.
After the meal, Valdez took Huang Chen to the weapons depot, picked up a heavy musket and delivered it to him. Huang Chen felt that it was heavy, heavier than the heavy musket obtained on the "Houston".
Valdes said: "The weight of the musket is directly proportional to its power. Its maximum range is 250-270 meters, and it can penetrate plate armor at 180 meters."
"It's scary." Huang Chen commented. "But no one can accurately shoot the enemy 180 meters away."
Valdes said: "It is difficult to reach 80 meters. Accuracy has never been the advantage of muskets."
Huang Chen nodded in agreement, put the musket on the stand, made an aiming motion, turned around and asked, "How much does one cost?"
Valders glanced sideways at William. Without the latter, he would naturally kill Huang Chen with a knife. He can't do that now, especially when the two of them can communicate in English. "It's equivalent to 6 taels of silver, which is slightly higher than the actual cost.
a little."
Huang Chen knew very well that the heavy matchlock gun with its bracket was only about three taels, so Valdes doubled it and said: "It's not just a little taller, but twice as high. I have no intention of paying for a mere few hundred taels of silver."
Entanglement, fixed price: one hundred pieces, five hundred taels."
"Deal." Valdes nodded happily.
Subsequently, one hundred and eighty light matchlock guns were quickly sold for three taels each, and thirty revolvers were sold for four taels each. The three types of firearms totaled one thousand two hundred and fifty taels.
When it came to the chest plate armor, they ran into trouble. The two got into an argument, and Huang Chen said bluntly: "It's not worth ten taels of silver."
Valdes said: "It is an excellent infantry armor, not a junk for sailors. It is definitely worth the price."
Huang Chen sneered and said: "Sir Valdes, do you know the purchasing power of ten taels of silver in the Ming Dynasty? I can buy a set of full-body armor with ten taels of silver."
Valders looked sarcastic: "Scale armor and full body armor?"
"In front of firearms, there is no difference between plate armor and scale armor."
"Then you go buy scale armor."
The two sometimes quarreled, sometimes had a cold war, and finally each took a step back. Huang Chen bought 80 sets of chest plate armor for a price of 10 taels, and Valdez came with 120 iron helmets. It was considered "everyone was happy". Huang Chen made a purchase
, a full two thousand and fifty taels of silver were spent, but the real big deal was still behind. Compared with the price of the artillery, the first ones could only be regarded as appetizers.
Huang Chen spent money like water and bought eight seven-pound cannons at one go, each with three hundred taels, a total of two thousand four hundred taels, and six eleven-pound cannons, each with a price of four hundred and fifty taels, a total of two thousand seven hundred taels.
There are five sixteen-pound cannons, each worth 700 taels, for a total of 3,500 taels. A total of nineteen cannons were purchased at a cost of 8,600 taels of silver.
I heard that Valdez has a twenty-four-pound naval gun. This bomb is the heaviest in all of Asia. Whether it is the Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese or British, their heaviest naval gun in Asia is only twenty-four pounds.
, and the quantity is not large. But just like field guns, Valdez has no intention of selling them.
Huang Chen was determined to get the "Santiago" ship model, field guns, and twenty-four-pound naval guns. In order to get the three items, he openly promised to come again before the end of the year, but secretly gave Valdez a fortune.
The reward was generous enough that he could not refuse, and he finally got a ship model and a twenty-four-pound naval gun, two four-pound field guns, and a six-pound field gun.
Both parties knew the importance of each other, so the transaction went very smoothly. On the morning of the next day, Huang Chen said goodbye to Valders and boarded the flagship.
Leaving the "Holy Trinity Port", Valdes and others on the shore gradually became smaller. Huang Chen asked the question in his heart: "William, it is normal for Spanish field artillery carriages to have two wheels. Why do naval gun carriages also have two wheels?"
We know that both the Ming Dynasty and the Netherlands, although the cannon carriages have different structures, they are all four-wheeled. The Spanish two-wheeled cannon carriages are quite different.
William didn't know the reason, so he shrugged and said, "This may be their tradition, just like the towering poop tower."
"Tradition?" Huang Chen said half-jokingly: "It seems that the first thing we do after returning is to replace the four-wheeled gun carriage."
"A very wise choice." William replied in the same joking tone.
It was already the end of October when Huang Chen returned to Tongshan. His return immediately caused a sensation. There were different opinions about his whereabouts. Some said he went to the official, some said he went to the chicken coop, and some said he returned.
In his hometown of Dachenshan, Zhejiang, some people even swore that he was carrying goods to Japan.
Huang Chen dealt with the spectators in a perfunctory manner, while Zhao Hongyi reported everything to him. What caught his attention the most was that the negotiations between Zheng Zhilong and the Fujian Yamen had never made breakthrough progress, and he was slowly losing patience. If there is no result within the year,
I’m afraid the army will come to the center and left again. (To be continued...)