Section 153: A Trip to Foshan (19)

"Yes. It's just that the language isn't very similar. Li Luoyou recalled Liu San's strange official dialect, and suddenly his heart moved-Liu San's official pronunciation was somewhat similar to the Han accent in Liaodong, and he frowned, "Since you want to colonize the cantonment, aren't you afraid of the encirclement and suppression of the imperial court?" The county yamen of Lingao didn't know what kind of wine bag and rice bag were in charge," he said, slapping the table.

"Mr. Li, don't get excited." "Australians should be free of hostility. I have not heard of anything they have done to jeopardize maritime trade - you know, with their iron ships, it would have been easy to rob the merchant ships along the coast. ”

"That's right."

"You see, you've bought theirs-drug-products--the Australians don't have any ill will. They are well-behaved and orderly in this area, and they are a good group of businessmen. Quark said excitedly, "I'd love to do business with them." ”

"You'll definitely have plenty of opportunities to do business with them." Li Luoyou has no doubt about this.

"But I don't know what they like." Quark was a little regretful, "They like medicine-materials, but they have already signed a contract with Shopkeeper Yang." If I could know what they needed most, I would have gone straight to Lingao next month with a batch of goods. ”

"What a shrewd businessman you are." Li Luoyou smiled, "I think they need iron and coal, especially coal." ”

“weishenme？” Quark asked.

"My men reported to me that they had recruited craftsmen, mainly in the field of porcelain and casting. Both of these require coal -- I remember not being able to get coal at the top of the road. ”

"Coal?" Quark shook his head regretfully, "It's dirty, and I don't have anywhere to buy it." He thought for a moment, "How's pig iron?" Since they recruited foundry workers. ”

"This one does." Li Luoyou thought that the Englishman reacted quickly enough.

"I think they need cloth too." Quark thought of the Indian cotton cloth that he had brought from Surat and had not sold much in the warehouse of Li Luoyou...... Suddenly he remembered something:

"Mr. Lee," Quark asked, "do you really want to start a foundry?" ”

"Yes." Li Luoyou felt strange, wasn't this what he was talking about a few days ago?

"But in my opinion, making firearms is not a lucrative business."

"Not bad." Li Luoyou thought in his heart. If you only look at it from the perspective of making money from trading, casting cannons is not a good deal, that is, it is troublesome and troublesome, and you have to deal with the government, and the cost of dealing with the government is afraid that it will far exceed the investment in the project itself. And the Ming - government - has always been extremely stingy in procurement in terms of paying for "state use". It's basically no different from robbing merchants

The Ming Dynasty used the system of "shop households as compradors" in government-procurement, which stipulated that all shops must take turns to work as errands to purchase goods for the government. On the surface, the money for handling goods is given by the government, but in fact it is often not sufficient, and the amount of money given depends on the character of the official. The deficiencies will be made up by the shops on duty in each line as usual.

Moreover, after the middle of the century, the price of goods purchased by the government was often set by the Zhu Baba era. There has been no change in one or two hundred years, and even if the government pays the price of the goods in full with a lot of money, the shops will also suffer a huge loss.

The shopkeepers are afraid of the government's prestige and can only bear the loss themselves. This system has been in place for many years, and the merchants and shops have been forced to complain for days. Wealthy merchants who have the means to try to buy off officials to evade servitude; Small and medium-sized businessmen who have no choice are often ruined and ruined.

The imperial court saw that there were too many shortcomings, so it had to make some changes and change the "comprador of the bank" to "comprador for attracting investment", but having said that, in fact, the local government still did whatever it wanted.

Li Luoyou knew that the recent cannon casting in Foshan was generally regarded as a "comprador for investment promotion". But how much price can be paid by this investment comprador is quite worrying. He is also quite a shili businessman in Liangguang, and there are also a few officials in the court who can speak to support him, and the local government will not force him to buy at a blatant low price, and it is very likely that he will not pay it back for a long time.

"Quark," Li Luoyou sighed, "you know what? If I were just to make money, it would be easier and more profitable to do anything here than to make firearms for the imperial court. However, the imperial court had to rely on these firearms to suppress the local rebellions, and to deal with the barbarians outside the Guan, who were no less ferocious than the Mongols, and who were now marching southward, approaching the imperial court's defenses. I can't imagine," Li Luoyou held his head - the chaos of Guangning's withdrawal from the town - reflected in his mind again, and he only felt a wave of dizziness, "the scene of this group of barbarians entering the Central Plains - that will be the destruction of Chinese civilization......"

He glanced at Quark, whose gray-blue-colored eyes were on him—Quark had never seen the great merchant so excited. But he likened the barbarians to the Mongols, which the British could perfectly understand: the Mongols - the destroyers of civilization.

“…… At that time, China will degenerate into a barbaric state that is ridiculed like today's Rus. Li Luoyou whispered, "I will do my best to prevent this day from coming." ”

Quark had no emotion-sexual-understanding of Houjin, but seeing Li Luoyou's love for the motherland so much, he couldn't help but be moved.

"I see." Quark nodded, "It's not just a business. He continued, "Mr. Li, how are you going to open this cannon foundry?" ”

"Of course, he hired a foreman locally, and then he recruited local craftsmen." Li Luoyou said, "I don't know how to cast and smelt. ”

"Mr. Li, have you ever thought of hiring craftsmen from England to build a foundry exactly according to the British model?"

"The British model?"

"Yes." Quark nodded, "Although I haven't seen the local foundry factory, but since the imperial court recognizes the ships of the East India Company so much, and regards them as sharp weapons, it is obvious that there is still a big gap between the firearms and the Europeans. ”

"Yes, in this regard, our jishu is indeed relatively backward." In Li Luoyou's view, China was rich in products, but Jishu seemed to be falling behind day by day, especially when he was doing business in Guangdong, and often went to sea with ships to Southeast Asia. Seeing the large European full-sail seagoing ships, with towering bulwarks and gun doors, although it seems clumsy and difficult to navigate when sailing offshore, when it comes to the sea, whether it is - operation - sex - or speed, it is better than the traditional Canton ship and fortune ship.

This gap has always made it difficult for Li Luoyou to sleep. He is not a presumptuous person, but he can feel the stagnation of the Ming Dynasty in many aspects. Now Quark Qian proposed to use European craftsmanship to make cannons, and Li Luo came from the spirit.

"What do you mean by the foundry of Europe?"

"There's a special iron furnace, a boring machine, a drilling machine, a blast furnace, all of which are powered by water wheels...... "and we can also make explosive bombs with hollow casting." And the arquebus, which is not comparable to the most haode bird gun in your court. ”

"These ......," Li Luoyou was taken aback, "Do you have to buy these machines from the UK?" Craftsmen must also be recruited from Europe. ”

"Machines, except for a few specialized, most of them can find substitutes in Daming, and it is not too difficult to manufacture them locally. All you need is the guidance of a few European craftsmen. I've heard Fr. Ma say that when it comes to the craft of cast iron, Chinese workers are no worse than European craftsmen, and that someone will only do better if they are instructed......"

Li Luoyou hesitated, this was a very tempting idea. Once such a cannon casting yard is formed, all the current workshops that imitate Western cannons will be dwarfed. And according to Quark poor, the production efficiency will be very high.

However, the investment in such a factory is more expensive than that of a local ordinary foundry, and it also involves foreigners coming to China. I'm afraid the government won't be too easy to talk to. Zuihou is in case the imperial court orders are limited, or the price is insufficient, wouldn't such a huge investment cannon factory be lost?

He voiced his doubts.

"It doesn't matter where you sell it." Quark said, "In the whole of East Asia and Southeast Asia, only Macao and Goa can cast European-style artillery. The production is very small. However, there are many places where firearms are needed. Not only you, but also Siam and the Lê dynasty were also engaged in foundries and munitions. Even if the Chinese court did not buy the firearms from the foundry, selling them would be enough to keep the factory running. ”

This is the idea of making up for the loss in the embankment, and it is a way out.

"But the British craftsmen still have the equipment." Li Luoyou said, "Once you go, it will take at least a year and a half." ”

"The one who is lenient says that it will take two years. But you're going to make firearms on a large scale, and I don't think that's a long time. Quark shrugged, "Once a factory is underground, it can run for many years. ”

Quark volunteered that if the matter could be settled, he would immediately write to his friends at the British Merchant House in Surat, asking him to return to England to prepare everything.

Li Luoyou thought twice about it and thought that this matter was feasible.

"But I won't pay you anything until you get things done, or until your equipment and craftsmen get on Chinese soil." Li Luoyou said, "You can calculate your costs and the profit in this trade first, and then give me a quote." ”

This is a great opportunity for quark poor, but it is also extremely risky. Not to mention, if the equipment he purchased sinks on the way to China, then all the money he invested in the early stage will be completely ruined.

After much deliberation, the Englishman nodded: "Good! I'll give you a price in a few days. ”（7.12）