After this trip to Nanyang, Li Tianyang's team finally got rid of the embarrassing fate, and in many things, they can let go of their hands and feet!

For example, we will continue to recruit sailors and build up the teams of the Nanyang Fleet and the Dongwa Fleet, so that the routes on both sides can go their own way, and the energy will continue to bring rich benefits to the Bengang team all year round.

After eating the sweetness of ocean trade, if he continues to let such a money-making opportunity go down the drain, Li Tianyang will have a disease in his head, and the illness is not light!

And the expansion plan of Qixintang, which has begun to slow down due to lack of money, can also be put back into the plan, if Qixintang is a little stronger, this time the trade, Li Tianyang does not need to find a few firms to cooperate, and the overall income is probably tens of thousands of taels of silver.

Not to mention that many R&D work that was suspended by Bengang because of the lack of funds and raw materials, such as the development of artillery and muskets, and the steam engine R&D team specially set up by Li Tianyang, were suspended because of the lack of supply of steel raw materials.

Steel, a material that is as extensive and important for military use as it is for civilian use, is the most strictly guarded thing by the Ming government. It is still possible to buy a small amount of farm tools, but if you want to purchase them on a large scale in the Ming Dynasty, it is obviously impossible without a strong relationship and foundation. And it is precisely that Li Tianyang and their Qixintang have not yet reached such a level and strength.

Therefore, even if Li Tianyang is extremely willing to buy and blossom in many places, the speed of procurement often cannot catch up with the speed of construction consumption.

The 100,000 catties of pig iron transported back from the Wa Kingdom last time seem to be a huge amount, but only half a year has been consumed, but there is not much left, where can it be provided to the research and development team of artillery and muskets?

And with this silver as a guarantee, even if Li Tianyang relies on using silver to smash, he can also make a way to purchase steel in the Ming Dynasty.

Then, not long after, He Yong and the others hit the road again, and with much richer goods than when they went to Dongwei last time, they ran to the distant Dongwei again.

It was only at this time that the impact of the attack on Macau gradually subsided, and with the return of Portuguese ships and the official entry of the Governor of Macao, the city of Macau, which had been empty for months, was finally refilled.

Since the attack on Macao, there has been no trace of the gang of madmen, although the Portuguese in Macau wanted to arrest, but they could not find the right owner, so the Portuguese gradually no longer had much hope for this, but the reward for this gang of strongmen has been hanging in the city of Macau, as a warning!

The Spaniards and the Dutch, because of the return of the Portuguese in Macao, failed to seize the best opportunity to capture Macao and drive the Portuguese back to the West, although it is a pity, but at this time they could only quietly retreat.

However, the Hongtang where Li Tianyang was located was also a blessing in disguise and won the friendship of the Portuguese in Macau.

Li Tianyang's method is actually very simple, that is, when Macao is empty, he frequently sends the warships of the Hongtang Whale Department and the Shark Department to inspect the waters around Macao to maintain order in the sea area. Although there was not much fighting at that time, it was considered to have avoided a lot of trouble for the Portuguese, and even several other groups of foreign ships had to be cautious about harassing Macao because of the large number of pirate warships roaming nearby.

In this way, Li Tianyang did bad things for them, turned his head and pretended to be good people, winning the favor of foreigners, but he was really a treacherous and cunning person.

Not to mention, the Portuguese, who were still suspicious of Hong Tang, were moved by Li Tianyang's selfless behavior, not only did they dispel their suspicions, but Li Tianyang also got the promise of the Portuguese to obtain the right to purchase Western artillery.

Thinking about the beginning, Li Tianyang and they wanted to catch up with the relationship between the Portuguese, but they were always denied entry, but now it is good, not to mention robbing others, but also found a way to buy Western cannons.

In addition to purchasing the goods that went to the east and paying the rewards due to the sailors who returned to the country, Li Tianyang put forward half of the 167,000 taels of silver that were still left on the books of Qixintang, and asked the Portuguese to place a list of artillery and firearms.

In fact, the Bengang Craftsman Workshop can already make firearms like the Bird Gun, but a skilled blacksmith will need about five days to build a qualified Bird Gun, so don't think about it in the short term if you want to mass-produce firearms.

As a result, the R&D Institute is now looking for ways to improve the manufacturing process in order to make the musket mass-produced.

As for artillery, the Tiger Squat Cannon, a small artillery, is no longer very difficult for the craftsman, and seven or eight of the ten pieces of the Tiger Squat Cannon made by clay fan craftsmanship are fully qualified. It's just that the tiger squat cannon is less useful and less powerful, even if it is manufactured in batches, Li Tianyang and they basically can't find a place to use it, and it is a waste of pig iron that is not enough raw materials.

And large artillery such as the Franc cannon and the Shenwei General Cannon, although they can be cast in the craftsman's workshop, the scrap rate is too high, at least seven or eight out of ten can't be used, and only a few are barely qualified, and most of them are not up to the ideal standard, and they are finally discarded aside.

Therefore, many of the weapons equipped with Hongtang now are purchased at high prices from various channels, or the loot collected when other pirates are cleared.

Now that he finally has a first-hand channel, Li Tianyang naturally wants to vigorously purchase and build the team towards Western standards.

In this order, Li Tianyang ordered 20 Shenwei General cannons alone, 20 Franc machine guns, and hundreds of arquebuses.

The price of one hand is preferential, it is more than twice as cheap as the second dealer outside, and a brand-new Shenwei general cannon used to cost six or seven thousand taels of silver, so you don't even think about it, and it is often priceless; But when it came from the Portuguese, it was only three thousand taels of silver.

Eighty thousand taels of silver is enough to buy such a batch of arms, of course, for the increasingly large Hongtang team, this amount of ammunition is not enough to fully arm them. However, coupled with the great general's cannon dismantled from the "Maria" and other three sea ships, it can also allow Hong Tangde to install a powerful main gun on the bow of each ship, and when the time comes, it can be regarded as invincible.

However, this batch of arms could not be delivered to Li Tianyang until more than half a year later, after the Portuguese returned to Macao from the West, and Li Tianyang could only pay half of the deposit for the time being, and waited quietly.

(End of chapter)