Chapter 680 The arms broker in the Wu-zijuan?
“Caomin Zhuang Limin has met Mr. Feng.”
Wearing a green shirt and long robe, he has a good demeanor and does not look like a merchant or workshop owner at all. This was Zhuang Limin's first impression of Feng Ziying, which was very good.
“Mr. Zhuang, please sit down.” Feng Ziying nodded and raised her hand.
After bowing his hands in salute, the man in blue shirt was not as flattering and shameless as some other businessmen, but sat down calmly.
The meeting place is the Guangdong Association Hall.
Feng Tang went to the Ministry of War in the morning and agreed to accept three thousand Rumi guns, which made Chai Ke also overjoyed.
This batch of firecrackers, which were regarded as useless by the Ministry of War, were rejected by the Shenji Battalion, and the people in charge at the time were no longer in office. Even if you want to investigate the responsibility, you can't find it. Xiao Daheng became an official, and Zhao Shizhen was dismissed. Fortunately, he was not To hold people accountable, they are nowhere to be found.
Money is a trivial matter. More than thirty thousand taels is not a small amount, but it cannot be called a large amount. As long as someone takes over, everything will be easy, especially Feng Tang. When he goes to the Liaodong court, he will be given a large sum of money. Now it's time to deduct it.
"The common people would like to thank the Governor for accepting this batch of Rumi guns. Otherwise, Zhuang really doesn't know how to explain to other workshop owners and owners after he returns." Zhuang Limin sighed, "This has been delayed for three or four years. , I didn’t expect that Mr. Xiao and Mr. Zhao are no longer here, and several adults from the Ministry of War refused to take over. Fortunately, your father..."
"Mr. Zhuang, you are very polite. I came to see Mr. Zhuang today because I want to understand the causes and consequences of the production of this batch of firecrackers. I also have some questions to ask." Feng Ziying also got straight to the point.
"Master Feng, feel free to ask. If Zhuang knows anything, he will tell you everything." Zhuang Limin hurriedly said: "As for the origin of these guns, we actually don't know. It was Guangdong Dusi who contacted us and asked us. Whether several workshops can make fire blunderbuss, we have never done it before, but Dusi said that there are drawings, and we only need to follow the production process of the drawings. After we saw it, we thought it could be done, so we made this The business started, there are seven workshops in total, because we have never done it before, so we are trying to take our time, especially making gun barrels is more complicated..."
There was nothing to hide, so Zhuang Limin told the story openly.
"It's hard to get money from the Ministry of War. After you give me 10,000 taels of silver, it's even harder to ask for it later. I ran away twice, but the Ministry of War said that I won't pay the follow-up money until it's completed and accepted. There's nothing we can do. We can only bite the bullet and carry on..."
Feng Ziying listened very carefully, "Mr. Zhuang, I would like to ask, you have seven workshops, and you have only been able to make 3,000 pieces for four years?"
"Master Feng, you may not know much about the manufacturing method of this kind of Lumi gun. The barrel of the gun must be made of fine iron into a rolled tube, and then drilled. This has not been done before, and a worker can't do it in a month." Of course, after we have done it now, we have gradually become familiar with it. We can make a gun barrel in about half a month. Our hands and feet are very agile, and we can even make three barrels in a month..."
Zhuang Limin obviously came prepared, "After taking over this job, we invited two more Western craftsmen to give guidance, and also recruited some new workers. The production process has also made great progress. If we are asked to do it again now, Several companies are here to make these three thousand fire blunderbuss. They can make them in a year, and the quality can be improved a lot..."
Feng Ziying laughed. He was also a shrewd person, and he could smell it right away.
Being able to win over such a big customer as Governor Ji Liao is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for any merchant, especially those merchants from Guangdong and Guangxi. Who doesn’t know that Liaodong is the main battlefield of the Great Zhou Dynasty?
“What about the self-made firecrackers?” Feng Ziying asked without any politeness.
"Self-generated fire gun?" Zhuang Limin hesitated for a moment and asked with some suspicion: "Master Feng, self-generated fire gun and fire gun are completely different things. Although they look similar in appearance, the rotating device is very delicate and complicated. To make one It’s very difficult. Currently we don’t have the ability to make such a device, but does the imperial court really need to make its own firecrackers?”
“Why do you ask?” Feng Ziying asked with a smile: “Shouldn’t the imperial court need better fire guns?”
Zhuang Limin doubted whether the imperial court had this determination.
"Mr. Zhuang, do you mean that you can still purchase this kind of self-made fire gun in Guangzhou?" Feng Ziying ignored Zhuang Wenjing's question.
"If it's thirty-five taels, Master Feng, if you need it urgently, Zhuang can search in Guangzhou and try his best to satisfy it. The price will not exceed thirty-five taels of silver each. If it exceeds one hundred, there will be nothing you can do. You have to go to Su There are more than 300 of them in Manila. I guess it will be difficult to purchase them in Nanyang, so we have to go to the mainland of the Xiyi people."
Zhuang Limin felt particularly excited when he realized that a big deal might be coming.
Master Feng is definitely not asking on behalf of himself, but on behalf of his father.
It is said that when the new governor of Ji Liao and the commander-in-chief of Liaodong takes office, the court will allocate millions of taels of grain and salary to him. Even if 20 to 30% of it is used to purchase weapons, it will still be 200,000 to 300,000 taels of silver to buy Lumi guns. It can be worth twenty to thirty thousand pieces. Even a self-made fire gun can be purchased in thousands.
"Oh, it seems that Mr. Zhuang is very confident. Not only does he have connections in Guangzhou, but he also has connections in Nanyang?" Feng Ziying did not doubt the other party's ability. Being able to get involved with the former Minister of War, Xiao Daheng, is not an easy task. generation.
This guy is not like a pure arms broker, but more like a wealthy businessman who is backed by a workshop but has extensive connections in Guangdong, Guangxi and Nanyang.
Zhuang Limin laughed, knowing that his statement finally aroused the other party's interest.
"Master Feng, other Zhuangs don't dare to boast, but in this regard, Zhuang still dares to pat his chest. In the past, the imperial court needed weapons such as swords and guns. If the war bureau was too late, Zhuang would be responsible for it. Later, Zhuang also made three-eyed muskets and target guns for the imperial court. Foshan's iron smelting production is world-famous, and cannot be compared with the capital city. I believe you have heard of this."
Zhuang Limin's face was full of pride, "As for the secrets, Zhuang can say that in Nanyang and Japan, Zhuang can still speak. If you are in urgent need of this kind of Rumi gun, Zhuang can even go there." Japan is purchasing Japanese bird gun for you, and the quality is not inferior to this batch of Lumi gun. Two to three thousand guns can be purchased for you within half a year, but the price may be a little more expensive."
“You mean that we in the Zhou Dynasty are not as good as the Japanese in making such firecrackers?” Feng Ziying asked.
"That's not true. The Japanese are still strengthening their armaments after the Imjin Japanese Rebellion. Their emperor doesn't seem to care about things very much. The powerful Tokugawa generals are not able to completely control the whole of Japan. Some of the generals below don't seem to be too well. Convinced, they are all buying weapons, and bird guns are also the most important part of them. As for us, Dazhou, we pay more attention to cannons, but we don’t pay much attention to fire guns. The original three-eyed guns and clip-on target guns were purchased. It was seven or eight years ago. In the past few years, there was only this batch of Rumi guns. It was also four years ago. Of course, I don’t know if the Bingzhan Bureau of the capital made them. I guess even if they did, the number would not be large. The quality is worse.”
Zhuang Limin's frank answer gave Feng Ziying an intuitive comparison of the firearms production capabilities of China and Japan. "You mean that the Japanese mainly have internal disputes, so they have been continuously purchasing and making firecrackers, while the Zhou Dynasty mainly has no demand." , but be able to quickly expand production scale and capabilities if needed?”
"Well, I dare not say that in other places. If the court's demand in Foshan can continue, many workshops can quickly purchase equipment and recruit craftsmen and apprentices to switch to production of this kind of Lumi gun. As long as there are blueprints, it is actually not difficult. There is no need. It's just that the time and quality required for production are different, but if we really continue to produce, these differences can be slowly made up within a year or two."
Feng Ziying looked at Zhuang Limin, her eyes a little more probing and curious, "Mr. Zhuang, your identity makes me very curious. Can you tell me whether you are engaged in business or running a workshop?"
Zhuang Limin also stood up with a smile and bowed formally, "It is a great honor for Zhuang to have Xiao Feng Xiuzuan, who has come up with the strategy to open up the sea, value him so much. The largest Lao Zhuang Ji Ironworks in Foshan is Zhuang's property. In addition, Zhuang is in Guangzhou." There are also twenty ships. This time, the sea trade Zhuang has paid a ten-year charter fee, and the Guangzhou Zhuangji Warehouse is also owned by the Zhuang family."
No wonder, he is a big player in industry and trade, and he is also a maritime businessman. It is normal to be able to connect with Xiao Daheng.
“Well, it turns out that Mr. Zhuang is also a maritime merchant, and he also has an iron smelting workshop. The business of more than 30,000 taels of silver should not be of much interest to Mr. Zhuang.” Feng Ziying nodded slightly.
Guangzhou's current trade status has gradually surpassed that of Ningbo and Quanzhou. Its special geographical location makes it more advantageous when facing Nanyang trade. However, once Ningbo and Quanzhou and Zhangzhou are completely liberalized, especially the trade with Japan and North Korea is opened, plus the East There are still some variables in the development of Fanzhou. After all, Ningbo Quanzhou directly faces the hinterland of Jiangnan.
"The business of three hundred taels of silver is also a living." Zhuang Limin shook his head, looking at Feng Ziying with clear eyes, "What's more, Zhuang also hopes to maintain this business. Zhuang believes that someone in the court will eventually see the firearms in the army. The Central Committee is becoming more and more important."
(End of this chapter)