Ning Yuan's Hongyi cannon was originally a naval gun, and it was used as a fortress cannon after being dismantled from the ship. The quality of these cannons is average, and they are very old, and they are not even as good as the red-coated cannons imitated by Kong Youde. An Lesi knew that Deng Ming, who had ten Hongyi cannons with an astonishing weight, was not interested at all, but it was still good to sell them to these rich people as treasures of the town's house.

After a bargain, the ten Hongyi cannons were sold by An Lesi for more than 40,000 taels of silver.

When the two Brits were popular, the two guys were so excited that they couldn't stop babbling: "How can this old cannon be sold for so much silver?" Boss An, let's cooperate in the future, let's go to the Dutch to get the cannon, and you will be responsible for selling it. ”

"It's okay, but I just want that kind of big naval gun, and I don't want small, light guns." An Lesi heard Deng Ming say that all naval guns are not suitable for dismantling and using as field artillery for the army, and Deng Ming hopes to be able to produce field artillery by himself, so that the military can also put forward various technical requirements to arms dealers as needed. In the future, even if Amles can produce lighter and lighter guns with a higher rate of fire, it is estimated that these old fortunes will not be eye-catching, and even if they do, the Imperial Diet will probably not agree to sell them advanced artillery, at least as an Imperial Councilor, Amleth has no plans to do so.

The shopkeeper who stayed behind in Huzhou told Anderson that his trading house in Sichuan was producing flintlock pistols at full speed. According to the last message, by April, Chengdu's monthly production of flintlock pistols is estimated to reach about 120. Seeing that the rifles in Zhejiang were sold out even in two months, the partners of Alox are expected to continue to borrow from banks to further expand production. Now it was an easy task for Amleth's arms dealership to take out loans, and several bankers who were selling bonds in the southeast noticed the hot sale of rifles, and Yu Youming, Feng Ziming, and others wrote to Amleth's shopkeeper and offered to invest in their arms dealership.

"I'm getting lucky again this year, and it's really a good person with a good reward." An Lesi felt that the future was bright, and that he could make a fortune this time was inseparable from his positive response to Deng Ming's call, if he hadn't paid out of his own pocket to study the weapons that Deng Ming needed, this kind of good thing would not have been his turn: "After returning to the capital, we will immediately start studying light artillery." ”

……

At this time, An Lesi didn't know that Hangzhou was repeatedly mentioning his name. After Zhang Tao, the Zhejiang consul appointed by Deng Ming, was called to the governor's yamen, he shook his head as soon as he heard that the government wanted to buy a rifle: "I can't promise Governor Zhao this kind of thing, don't say that I can't agree, even if Baoguo Gong says it, it doesn't count." ”

"Didn't Bao Guogong say neutrality? Why did you sell Zhuang Yuncheng rifles but refused to sell them to us, can this be called neutrality? Songkui was anxious when he heard this.

Now that the north of Zhejiang is in turmoil, and the east is about to collapse, if the gentry are united, then their army will be more numerous than the green battalion of a province. In the past, the Green Battalion could defeat a large rabble with armor and organization, but now that the gentry have rifles, the Green Battalion is comparable in numbers to them, let alone at a disadvantage - if this continues, how can Zhuang Yuncheng be persuaded to stop the Qing monarch's side and return to the negotiating table?

"Our strict neutrality means that we will not send troops into Zhejiang, and will not intervene in the civil war between Governor Zhao and Mr. Zhuang. But the weapons are not sold or produced by the Protectorate. As far as I know, all the rifles in Chengdu are now produced by a boss named An Lesi and several of his fellow minority shareholders, even if Bao Guogong wants rifles, he also needs to buy them from this boss An, and he also has to pay for them. Zhang Tao talked for a long time before Zhao Guozuo and his gang figured out the current arms procurement mechanism in Chengdu: "The Imperial Diet can prohibit merchants from selling weapons to a certain person, but it cannot force merchants to sell weapons to a certain buyer." ”

"Are we forbidden?" Zhou Peigong asked, after hearing about the power of the rifle, he was also a little moved, and wanted to buy a batch for his Yangtze River Suppression Deng Corps.

"I don't know, I haven't received instructions yet." Sichuan had never sold arms to other countries before, so the parliament had never considered invoking the law, but Zhang Tao estimated that the matter might already be discussed in the imperial parliament.

"If Bao Guogong doesn't prohibit Boss An from selling us rifles, will Boss An sell us rifles?" Zhou Peigong asked reluctantly.

"You have to go and ask Boss An about this, I can't decide for him." Zhang Tao smiled kindly.

It was not only the people who were shocked by the power of the rifle, but also the people of the Governor of Zhejiang, Yamen, who learned that Zhuang Yuncheng had won a series of battles, and Zhang Tao found that he had seriously underestimated the power of this new weapon at first. Not long ago, Zhang Tao sent a letter to Deng Ming, strongly suggesting that Deng Ming replace the Sichuan army with this new weapon as soon as possible, and strictly prohibit rifles from entering the Qing court's yamen, even the Yangtze River, which was the most friendly to the Sichuan army, to suppress Premier Deng's yamen.

Although Zhang Tao didn't say it explicitly, Zhao Guozuo and the others were not fools, so they could naturally see that the other party was insincere.

Unexpectedly, Zhang Tao actually took the initiative to visit them the next day, and as soon as he entered the door, Consul Zhang said with a smile: "I received a letter from Bao Guogong last night, and Bao Guogong gave me clear instructions to sell you rifles, about three hundred taels. ”

"Three hundred taels of one." Zhao Guozuo's face sank suddenly: "This is enough to buy cannons." ”

The cost of the red-coated cannon imitated by the Three Domains and the Eight Banners of the Han Dynasty is about two hundred taels, and the cheaper tiger squat cannon may only cost a few dozen taels.

"The production is limited, and Mr. Zhuang and they have already paid two hundred taels of silver for each one, and they have advanced all the rifles for five months." Zhang Tao smiled and spread his hands: "If Governor Zhao doesn't send an envoy to run now, then in a few months, it may not be possible to buy three hundred taels or one." ”

Deng Ming's instructions were that if the Hangzhou government was willing to pay an astonishing price to buy rifles, it could also be sold to them, because as long as Hangzhou was willing to pay a high price, it was impossible to buy them, and some gentry might even help the government buy them; If selling a rifle to Hangzhou can make it lose its ability to support ten to twenty soldiers, this transaction is not impossible, after all, Zhao Guozuo and the gentry of the province will definitely not be able to win by fighting for money. And Zhao Guozuo can't buy a gun just to defend the city like the gentry, if he wants to restore control of the prefecture and county, he needs to take the initiative, then he needs to spend more money to train the troops, and Deng Ming will definitely not send instructors to the Hangzhou government.

"We don't have any money." Songkui felt that it was reasonable to cut the price by ninety percent, even if it was expensive to spend thirty taels to buy a rifle. Now Zhejiang has to send Cao Yun to Beijing, compensate Fujian for the money, and train troops to suppress Zhuang Yuncheng, and the governor Yamen may go bankrupt at any time.

"Yes, the official has no money." Zhao Guozuo also began to bargain: "At most, fifty taels of one, it is said that if we buy more, it should be cheaper." ”

"The rifle is at this price, no matter how cheap it is, it can't be less than two hundred taels, if it's only two hundred taels, why does Boss An have to sell it to you?" Zhang Tao changed the topic and talked about another thing that Deng Ming confessed: "Since you can't afford to buy a rifle, let's consider the bird gun, this kind of gun is about the same power as a rifle, but it is very cheap, only thirty taels." ”

"Thirty taels and three hundred taels, this can't be about the same power, right?" Zhao Guozuo said coldly.

"The difference is actually very limited, the range is at least 80% of that of a rifle, and the power can be more than 70%; In fact, the rifle is to deceive the rich man, and those who really know the goods would rather use the bird's gun. Although it is an exaggeration, Zhang Tao is not completely untrue. However, he did not mention the difficulty of training, the rate of fire, or the difficulty of reloading: "Another arms dealer in Chengdu is very interested in this business, and they promise to supply the Governor with 10,000 high-quality, non-bobbed bird guns every year. ”

The Chengdu comptoir assured Deng Ming that if the arms business continued to flourish, they would launch a rifle priced at less than 3,000 yuan within six months, and it would be a new model that had been improved. Of course, this price is only valid for the Imperial Army and Tongxiu. After hearing this, Deng Ming pondered that he would replace the old-fashioned arquebuses in the hands of the Sichuan Army and Tong Xiucai with rifles after half a year. He didn't do anything to ask Deng Ming to pay for a rifle, and if he asked the Imperial Diet to pay for it, he would have to raise taxes, which was not in line with Deng Ming's thinking. Now there are thousands of arquebuses of all kinds in Sichuan -- so Deng Ming plans to carry out a trade-in operation, so that every Sichuan Tongxiucai can exchange their old arquebuses for a brand-new flintlock pistol, and let Zhao Guozuo take over the old guns that have been eliminated.

Burma should also be able to collect a batch of arquebuses, and Deng Ming plans to sell these old guns to the southeastern governor to earn some money to enrich the Sichuan army's armament warehouses and increase rifle stocks.

"10,000 bird guns are 300,000 taels of silver, and the official can't afford them." Zhao Guozuo knew that he would have to spend a lot of money on training, and if he could use it without training, the Ming army would not be so fond of the three eyes.

"It doesn't matter if you don't have any money, Boss Yu of Chengdu Industrial Bank is on his way to Hangzhou, as long as Governor Zhao nods, he is willing to help Governor Zhao pay the deposit, and when the bird gun arrives, he can also lend money to Governor Zhao, so that you have the silver to buy all these firecrackers."

"What does Boss Yu want?" Zhao Guozuo asked vigilantly.

"Boss Yu wants to cooperate with Governor Zhao to do some business, and the cost of the first batch of 1,000 bird guns will be counted as Boss Yu's shares, and in the future, he will give Governor Zhao a batch of bird guns every month, even if it is a dividend to Governor Zhao."

"What kind of business?" The look of vigilance on Zhao Guozuo's face did not decrease.

"Coastal business, of course."

"Forbidden sea relocation, don't you know?" Song Kui asked in surprise when he heard this.

"Of course we do, and we know that there are no taxes in these areas." Zhang Tao laughed: "Governor Zhao is holding a golden rice bowl and asking for rice." Boss Yu can pay to operate the land in the forbidden sea area, reclamation, fishing, and sea trade are all at the expense of Boss Yu and take risks, and he doesn't want Governor Zhao to have a copper plate. No matter how well it is managed, how about ensuring that Governor Zhao has a bird to take? ”