Zhu Cihong nodded slightly, and cast an approving look at his senior brother Zheng Sen.

It's good to have the richest man's son as a big brother!

There are 5,000 firecrackers, and most of them are lightweight Japanese birdboys or high-quality birdboys produced in Foshan, Guangdong. Although the power of this bird gun is not as good as that of the turtledove-footed firearm, because it is lighter, less than ten catties, it is more suitable for individual use, and it is also easy to install bayonets.

Now with 4,000 or hundreds of Japanese Bird Guns, Prince Zhu will be able to equip the four real Fire Gun Associations in no time!

Thinking that there would be four fire guns soon, Zhu Cihong felt that his waist was a lot stiffer!

"Senior brother," he asked with a smile, "are all these cannons and firecrackers available?" ”

Zheng Sen replied with a smile: "It's not available, you have to test it one by one...... It's not enough to just look at the surface workmanship, how about the iron? How is the workmanship of the pipe? How apnea is held? You have to try it out before you know it, so you have to have an experienced and responsible veteran. ”

"Experienced and ......willing to be responsible," Zhu Cihong frowned, "Where to find such a good person?" ”

Zheng Sen said: "It's not difficult to say...... It is only necessary to delegate the authority to purchase firearms, gunpowder, and projectiles, and let the generals with troops take over. Westerners, Japanese, and the firecrackers of my Zheng family all acted in this way. ”

It is inconceivable that many so-called militarily advanced countries in the West in these years have lagged far behind the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty in terms of military and political management systems. It was not until 1714 that even advanced capitalist countries such as England sought for the first time a standard weapon that could be mass-produced through tenders from private ordnance dealers, which later became known as the brown Bess flintlock rifle.

And before the advent of this rifle, the British way of purchasing firearms was to directly distribute funds to the officer corps, so that they could purchase equipment themselves!

What makes people even more speechless is that many positions in the officer corps can also be purchased with money!

Under this system, Britain's national army was more like a group of private war contractors than a regular army.

During the Opium Wars, the notorious commander of the British invading army, Hugh . Viscount Gaofu was born in a "donation class" - he donated a major in 1804 to be a major! Among the hostile Qing army, there were a large number of martial artists, martial artists, and martial artists, all of whom were both civil and military, and their martial arts were all national heroes......

Zhu Cihong was of course resistant to the idea of letting the officer corps contract the purchase of weapons, he shook his head and said: "Nanjing does not produce firearms, do you still want to let the officers with the troops go to Foshan to buy them?" ”

"Chitose Lord, there are not many workshops in Foshan that can produce firecrackers." Zheng Sen said, "And this firearm consumes a lot in wartime, and it won't take long for one gun to be damaged and scrapped."

If Chitose Ye wants to equip the army with firearms as the main battle weapon, then it is necessary to attract the craftsmen of Foshan, Japan, and the West to gather in Nanjing. Let them set up more workshops for guns and gunpowder...... A firecracker workshop produces 10 to 15 firecrackers a month, and 200 workshops can produce tens of thousands of firecrackers a year, which is enough to cope with the use of 100,000 troops. ”

Zhu Cihong frowned and asked, "Can't you open a big factory and make it produce thousands of firecrackers a month?" ”

Zheng Sen shook his head and said, "Good master, who is willing to be a craftsman?" They opened their own business, fifteen guns a month, and some other ironworkers, and it was easy to earn tens of taels of silver a month. If you become a craftsman, this ...... If the Chitose Lord has this thought, he is afraid that the ministers will have nowhere to attract craftsmen to Nanjing. ”

In fact, there were no real craftsmen in the Ming Dynasty. As early as the forty-first year of Jiajing, the craftsmen no longer took shifts, but changed to levy silver, and the imperial court hired workers with silver. As a result, a large number of artisans turned into industrialists and merchants, and the official handicraft industry of the imperial court gradually weakened due to the lack of good craftsmen.

If Zhu Cihong wanted to build a large government barracks and military factory in Nanjing, the first problem was that there were not enough craftsmen.

The second challenge is management, especially quality control!

Zheng Sen also said: "It is extremely difficult to build a firecracker, and the selection of materials and craftsmanship are very particular, which requires experienced craftsmen and solid work. If the craftsman is self-employed, if the things are not made well, they will starve to death. If it is a government-run craftsman, if Chitose Lord wants to supervise them? Do you decapitate if you don't do it well? ”

In this era, there was no concept of standardization in the workshop handicraft industry, and for example, there are no two pieces of wrought iron in the world that have become nearly the same (and not exactly the same, as long as the difference is small)!

Even the most basic wrought iron composition is different, how to carry out standardized production? If standardization cannot be achieved, assembly line production is even more impossible. It's really embarrassing to say, in the Warring States Period more than a thousand years ago, the Qin State adopted a large-scale and standardized production model in the production of bronze cold weapons, and it is likely that it also used a similar assembly line production method.

However, Zhu Cihong, a traverser, in the Ming Dynasty, really had no way to use this method to produce fire guns in a relatively short period of time...... In his previous life, he played finance, not metallurgy, and he didn't know how to open the gold finger of metallurgy, casting and forging.

However, Zhu Cihong knew that he had to bring the craftsmen who could make excellent firecrackers and artillery to Nanjing to start a business!

If they are set to start a business, there will be cruel market competition and the possibility of technological progress!

Zhu Cihong nodded slightly, and said to Zheng Sen: "Senior brother, you are right, you really have to attract craftsmen to Nanjing to run workshops, and the method of craftsmen taking turns is absolutely useless, and the palace will not be restored." As for how to attract craftsmen to the north, how to make the industry and commerce of all mouths along the river in Nanzhili prosperous, and then discuss slowly after Lingzun comes north to Jinling. ”

Zheng Sen's Ling Zun is, of course, Zheng Zhilong, the richest man in the Ming Dynasty...... You have to trick him, no, please come to Nanjing!

There are so many investment opportunities here in Nanjing, and the richest man is here, so Xu is reluctant to leave.

In addition, Zheng Sen seems to have many younger sisters who are not married......

He smiled and said to Zheng Sen: "This palace has heard that John Tang has talked about many Western things, and I have also heard people talk about Japanese affairs. Western countries and Japan are all great countries with prosperous cultural relics and long history, and there are quite a few aspects that are worth learning from our Celestial Empire.

Zi said: There must be my teacher in the threesome. The same is true between countries, even if a country thousands of miles away, if there is a aspect that is better than the Central Plains, we should not be ashamed to ask. Ling Zun is familiar with foreign affairs, and the palace wants to ask him for advice first. ”

Zheng Sen was very happy when he heard this, and immediately said to Zhu Cihong: "I will write to my father when I turn around, and ask him to come to Nanjing as soon as possible." He paused, "My father has always wanted to edict Japan for the imperial court all these years, but there are always some misunderstandings between the imperial court and Japan that are difficult to eliminate......"

He was asking Zhu Cihong to win greater authority for his father Zheng Zhilong to deal with Japan.

The Tokugawa shogunate of Japan implemented a strict policy of seclusion and seclusion, and only merchant ships with the "Imperial Seal" were allowed to enter and leave the port of Nagasaki and trade with Japanese merchants. This trade was strictly regulated, and only about 40 Chinese merchant ships could enter and leave Nagasaki each year with the Imperial Seal.

Although most of these forty or so Chinese merchant ships belonged to the Zheng family, Zheng Zhilong was still not satisfied and hoped to occupy a larger share.

And to achieve this goal, he needs to get more support from the Ming court!

"There was no misunderstanding, no misunderstanding." Zhu Cihong smiled and waved his hand, "The main palace knows that it was Toyotomi Hideyoshi who attacked Korea during the Wanli period, and now it is the Tokugawa Shogunate that eliminated the Toyotomi Shogunate that ruled Japan. The Tokugawa shogunate was a friend of the Ming dynasty, and the shogun was a friend of the main palace. Friends should communicate with each other on an equal footing. Senior brother, do you think this is feasible? ”

"That's great!" Zheng Sen said with a smile, "With the words of the Chitose Master, my father will definitely come as soon as possible." ”

Zhu Cihong nodded, and when he wanted to say something more, he heard a commotion at the entrance of the dock, as if someone was arguing there. Military advisor Li Yan quickly walked up to Zhu Cihong with joy, and reported after a salute: "Master Chitose, someone wants to sue the emperor." ”

"Oh?" Zhu Cihong asked, "Sue whom?" ”

"Sue Yangzhou Wei Commander Xu Yongji for colluding with Admiral Caoyun Funing Marquis Zhu Guobi to rebel!"