The Portuguese governor of Macau, St. Paul, provided Zhu with typical European-style mercenary services, that is, a team of officers and non-commissioned officers that could be used to organize infantry regiments, which were the main force in the Thirty Years' War, and in the East, the armies of European colonizers were formed in this way.

They cobbled together mercenary regiments by recruiting mercenary officers and non-commissioned officer corps from Europe, and then from the East indigenous or unlucky whites to serve as soldiers, sometimes using blacks or Indians.

"His Royal Highness the Prince," Alfonso. López took over the topic at this point, and he could speak an official dialect with a Cantonese accent, "Governor SchPaul would like to be able to recruit you three more officer corps that can each support an infantry association...... You can assign each of these four infantry associations a Ming officer corps, with Ming officers acting as deputies to learn Western tactics in training and actual combat.

In addition, Mr. Governor-General, I hope that you can fully delegate power to the officer corps of the West...... Let them choose their own equipment and develop their own training programmes. ”

The requirement for Western officers to choose their own equipment was actually imposed by López himself, who was not a career bureaucrat in the Kingdom of Portugal, but an arms dealer. He owns a house called "Alfonso. López Comptoir is a foreign firm specializing in the arms business. Not only selling, but also has its own musket workshop and armor workshop, which can produce 80-100 long-barreled muskets and 40 pairs of half-body plate armor per month.

In addition, his firm also had close business dealings with many Foshan businessmen. All the iron used in his workshop was supplied by Foshan. If you receive a large order, you will also buy directly from Foshan.

Zhu Cihong already knew López's background, and when he heard him say this, he took over the conversation and said with a smile: "I'm afraid it's a little difficult to buy by yourself...... After all, there is no workshop in the whole of Nanzhili that can produce bird guns and turtledove foot fire guns.

Alfonso, I heard that even if you are the owner of a firearms workshop, have you ever thought of opening a workshop in Nanzhili? ”

Alfonso. López was stunned, what? Foreigners go to Nanzhili to start the construction site? Can this really be the case?

Zhu Cihong nodded and said with a smile: "It's not okay for the entire Nanzhili to let go, at least temporarily...... However, the palace can enclose a piece of land at the mouth of the Yangtze River in Nanzhili, implement a special legal system that is different from other places in the Ming Dynasty, and completely open it to the outside world.

Westerners were allowed to settle on the land, and to open merchant houses and workshops, and even some Western gentlemen could participate in the management of the city as advisers. ”

Alfonso. López was really shocked, isn't what Prince Daming said about a free city?

"Alfonso," Zhu Cihong smiled at Alfonso. "If you really want to get more orders for weapons, then you shouldn't set up workshops and shops in Ho O. Hao Ao is so far away from Nanjing, how to do business? If the product is not qualified, it will be troublesome to return it.

Hongu recommends that you move your workshops and merchant houses to Shanghai, an open city at the mouth of the Yangtze River...... In the future, the embassies of Portugal and the Netherlands, as well as the merchant pavilion of the East India Company, will also be set up there! ”

"Is this true? Your Royal Highness the Prince, the city is already under construction? "Alfonso. López asked.

Of course, he knew what it meant to be a free city at the mouth of the Yangtze River.

"Not yet," Zhu Cihong said, "but everything is ready...... Wait for the palace to negotiate a specific plan with the ministers of trade and trade in the south and north. Early next year, the order should be officially issued. ”

The land in Shanghai has long been encircled, and the Juntun fields of the Wusongjiang Institute and the Baoshan Institute have been circled, with a total of more than a dozen acres of land, all on both sides of the Wusong River, almost the Baoshan, Jiangwan, and Gaoqiao areas of the later generations.

At the rate of urban development in the 17th century, there was enough land for the city of Shanghai for decades...... And once Shanghai is developed, more than 100,000 acres of land, hehe, one hundred taels of silver will be worth more than 10 million taels per mu!

And Prince Zhu is such a monkey as a leader of a feudal country, of course he will not let out the land in Shanghai at the "cabbage price" of 10021 acres, and he is not a stupid person.

His vision is to "rent only, not sell", and hold it for a long time! At first, rents are offered at a low price, and when the city develops, the rent increases......

In addition, Shanghai is the junction of the five major trade circles of Nanyang, Beiyang, Dongyang, Yangtze River, and Canal (Wusongjiang Canal), and it is easy to develop into a trade center and financial center in East Asia.

Once these two centers are up, it will be much easier to collect tariffs and issue currency!

"López," Zhu Cihong stretched out his hand, and took a "contract" that he had drafted himself from Huang Xiaobao and handed it to López, "This is a contract drafted by the palace in both Chinese and English...... It is a contract for the mercenary of the officer corps. Your offer, this palace has accepted! After you and General Shi return to the pavilion, you will study the contract carefully and propose amendments tomorrow. If there is no opinion, then the day after tomorrow will be signed.

After the New Year, General Shi's officer corps could take over an infantry regiment organized according to Western standards, and began to equip and train. ”

What the? And the contract? Or bilingual in Chinese and English...... That's pretty formal!

López and Shi Ruien glanced at each other, could His Royal Highness the Prince of Daming have interned at the Dutch East India Company under a pseudonym?

......

"Yours, grocery store work?"

Why does Zhu Cihong know English? He can also speak Japanese-Chinese!

The Western devils left with the contract, and the Oriental devils came to meet again - eighteen devils, all dressed as samurai, and the territory was Zahepu.

Huang Xiaobao has already given Zhu Cihong the quotations of the devils, and the highest of them is the devil named "Grocery Store", who asks for 250 stone of brown rice...... It's an annual salary!

The asking price is not low, the price of a stone of brown rice in Nanjing is less than two taels of silver, and 250 stones is 500 taels. The ordinary soldiers in Zhu Cihong's army who gave land to the fire, counting the field rent of 50 stone and the monthly salary of 2 taels, would be 124 taels of silver a year.

You are a devil who runs a grocery store at home, and you need 500 taels and so many dollars, what are you capable of?

"Mine, my name is Zahep." Zaga Pu frowned, and also learned Zhu Cihong's tone, and replied, "It is the origin of the Saga people in Kii Province, Japan, and we Saga people have been good at using iron cannons for generations!" ”

"It's Zahezhong, I've heard of ......" Zhu Cihong nodded, it turned out that he didn't open a grocery store.

"Three months probation," Zhu Cihong smiled, "If you can do a good job on a business trip, you will give it to Yu Lu according to your asking price, and the probationary period will be discounted and paid monthly." ”

And a trial period?

Zahepu thought for a while and asked, "I don't know where His Highness wants me to go on a business trip?" ”

"Go to Jeju Island," Zhu said, "all of you go!" ”

"Jeju Island? Isn't that the land of the Korean state? Zahepu was stunned.

"Yes!" Zhu Cihong nodded, "You guys go and occupy Jeju Island to the main palace!" Take the sea boat provided by the Zheng family to ...... However, the entire combat operation will be in charge of the Minister of Beiyang. Are you going or not? ”

The military campaign to occupy Jeju Island was proposed by Shen Tingyang in early December, not to annex Jeju Island, but to force the Kingdom of Korea and the Beiyang Minister Yamen to sign a "monopoly trade treaty" - that is, to require the Korean Kingdom to hand over all foreign trade by sea to the Ming Dynasty's Beiyang Minister Yamen.

The Beiyang Minister Yamen negotiated with the Koreans for several months over the issue of monopolizing trade, but they just bit the bullet and refused to budge.

Even at the beginning of November, he threatened to ban Beiyang merchant ships from entering North Korean ports!

Therefore, Shen Tingyang proposed to Zhu Cihong to invade and occupy Jeju Island in order to coerce the Korean Kingdom...... Of course, Zhu Cihong will not agree to this kind of destruction of the traditional friendship between China and North Korea!

Therefore, it could not be the Ming army that invaded Jeju Island, but only the Japanese invaders! And this invasion is likely to be the beginning of a full-scale Japanese invasion of Korea...... If the king of Korea needs rescue, then the Ming court is willing to provide paid aid services!