After eating a meal awkwardly, Chang Wei hurriedly returned home with the emperor's pile of woodwork. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

The good news was that the fleet returned to Liuheng Island at the end of the first month, and they traveled thousands of miles through Taiwan, Manila, and as far as Batavia, and on their way back to Spice Island, three thousand miles southeast of Manila.

The audacious Ha Kong stole a boatload of nutmeg from Spice Island under the noses of the Dutch, this small boat of spices was only worth 10,000 taels of silver locally, and after bringing it back to Zhenjiang, it was sold for a sky-high price of 1 million taels by Xue Qian, who was black-hearted.

Of the 3 million taels of goods brought out, the full shipments exchanged in Manila and Batavia were sold for 6 million taels back to Jiangnan, making a net profit of 3 million taels back and forth. Ha Kong ordered thirty Manila galleons, and the four sample boats brought back were loaded with cheap Champa rice by Shen Kuang's men, totaling as much as 100,000 stones. This is enough food to feed 100,000 people for half a year. (The Manila galleon carries 2,000 tons, 4 million jin for one ship, 16 million jin for four boats, and 120 to 180 jin for 1 stone, 160 jin for here.) ）

"Maritime trade is a lucrative. "It's this kind of huge profit, a boat only needs to pay 80 taels of tax, and the dozen or so boats only pay a total of less than 1,000 taels of tax.

In addition, after completing the deal for artillery, artillery-making technology, personnel, and a thousand flintlock pistols, Gomes resigned from the Portuguese Navy to join Changwei's ocean-going fleet.

Now that the new goods have been loaded, this time Shen Kuang directly got on the thirty big ships, half of the goods were silk, tea, porcelain and handicrafts, and the other half were pedal carts, four-wheeled carriages, kerosene lamps and a small number of glass mirrors and glassware.

Because the value of the goods this time reached 10 million taels, Shen Kuang, Xue Qian, Hakong, Chang Ping, Gomez and other high-level personnel unanimously asked to send soldiers to escort them, and now they are waiting for Chang Wei's order.

There was nothing to say about this, and without thinking about it, Chang Wei issued an order to send soldiers from the Volunteer Battalion to escort the escort.

After the sale of these 10 million taels of cargo to the South Seas, this year's market was basically saturated, but when the fleet returned to sail in June, it was just in time for the voyage to the Americas.

After the opening of the American route, from June to February, one voyage to the Americas, and one voyage to Southeast Asia from March to June, the time and ocean currents are just right, which is a good deal to make money at both ends.

In addition, the beggars and the children of the Tang Sect also arrived in Beijing, and the beggar gang Dayong divided the rudder in Nancheng and ran many industries, and the Tang Men opened a medicine shop outside the Zhengyang Gate. Now Chang Wei is not short of manpower.

After Huancai Pavilion was seized by Ma Yuan, Fang Huan'er took it from Jinyiwei at a low price of 30,000 taels. Huancai Pavilion was originally the best brothel, Fang Huan'er bought a hundred and ten skilled girls from Yangzhou, Suzhou, and Nanjing, and renamed Jiang Nanju, and now it has become the number one brothel in Baishun Hutong.

After dealing with these things, he immediately rushed to the Machinery Bureau of Wang Gong Factory, although Xu Guangqi, Sun Yuanhua, and Bi Maokang were only good at artillery, but they were proficient in Western studies, and the principle of steam engine was not difficult, and they quickly understood.

In order to boring the barrel, Bi Maokang invented a simple boring machine, Sun Yuanhua made a twist drill bit, Xu Guangqi not only added guide rails to the lathe, boring machine and drilling machine, but also invented a simple grinding machine.

Today, the machine bureau is equipped with basic machine tools and textile machines powered by steam engines, blast furnace coke steelmaking technology has also been put into use, Bi Maokang has improved the gunpowder formula of the Anmin factory, and the royal powder magazine, like the volunteer battalion, has switched to paper shell shells.

Originally, the Anmin factory stored 5,000 catties of gunpowder, and each shot of the bird gun required five coins of gunpowder, one or two gunpowder and two guns, one catty of 32 guns, and 5,000 catties of gunpowder and 160,000 guns. It was barely enough for the soldiers of the three battalions to fire two shots each.

But the flintlock musket chamber was more airtight, the chamber was more reasonable, and only two pennies of gunpowder paper shell bullets were enough, so that there were 350,000 rounds of ammunition. In addition, paper shell bullets are safer and easier to store than gunpowder, so the Anmin factory has stored nearly one million rounds of ammunition, enough ammunition for one person and ten shots.

In addition, samples of rifled guns and breech-loading rifled guns have already appeared, but large quantities of high-quality steel are needed for mass production.

Due to the advent of boring machines, the cylinder that restricts the large-scale promotion of steam engines will no longer be a problem.

"The industrial age has begun!" Chang Wei rushed to the lamp market with joy, "Yulang, I have found a good errand for you!"

Hearing that it was an envoy to the Western Regions, Yulang shook his head and smiled bitterly: "I am in the capital with fine clothes and jade food, and I am merry and happy, and you are brought to the desert of the Western Regions to blow the wind, do you dare to say that it is a good thing?"

Chang Wei said with a smile: "Western Regions wine and orchid have a different taste, I'm just afraid that you will be reluctant to come back." ”

Dingguo Gong Xu Yunzhen laughed: "What Fearless said makes sense, Yulang, you can hurry up and go to the Western Regions to bring us some fresh girls back." ”

Yulang saw that he could only admit this drudgery, but Chang Wei naturally would not let him suffer, "Big brother, Yulang, brothers, the time has come to make a fortune, hurry up and go to Tongzhou to find a place to build a factory!"

In order to realize the industrial age, it is far from enough to rely only on the Beijing Machinery Bureau, the Zhenjiang Laboratory, the Jiangnan Shen family, the Longyou Gang, and Xu Guangqi; the Xu family in the north and south of Beijing, and the law-abiding lords such as Yulang are all families with great prestige and great influence, and they have the wealth, the power, and the people, so that they can participate in it and get benefits from making a fortune in industry, so as to attract a large number of people with hot eyes to join in, thus forming an 'industrial party'.

Judging from the current situation, it only takes three or two years for the emerging industrial party to form an incomparably powerful force, and at that time, the Donglin Party will naturally collapse, or even take the initiative to surrender.

The steam engine with power tens of millions of times more than manpower, the textile machine with a speed of hundreds of times, the large-scale refining of steel, the machine tool for making everything, the expensive glass mirror, the delicate pocket watch, the novelty of the four-wheeled carriage and pedal car...... Everything Chang Wei depicts is a unique, incomparably profitable commodity.

Xu Yunzhen and Yulang are both visionary and knowledgeable nobles, so they can naturally see the business opportunities and energy contained in them, and immediately study the specific operation methods and detailed matters such as factory site selection and construction pattern.

After a lot of things were discussed, it was already dark. Chang Wei rushed home and asked Ma Yuan to invite Chang Li, Han Chai, Fang Huan'er, Tangmen and the beggar gang to come, not only to have a good gathering today, but also to let them go to Tongzhou to find a place to build a factory. The industrial party not only has to attract nobles and businessmen to participate, but also the Jianghu sect is also within the scope of the promotion, and only the participation of the whole people can make the Ming Dynasty truly enter the industrial society.

Who knew that the allies hadn't arrived yet, Han Chai came first with Chu Qing, and when he heard the name Chu Qing, Chang Wei remembered that he hadn't cleaned up the thunder yet.

"Meet your lordship. ”

Chu Qing's proper etiquette made Chang Wei laugh dumbly, "Qing'er, why do you have to see the outside like this? I am from Suzhou, you are from Huzhou, and the two of us can be regarded as fellow villagers." Besides, our relationship is also very intimate. ”

In fact, Chang Wei has to thank Chu Qing and Lei Bang well, if it weren't for the two of them confronting the emperor at Baiyun Temple on Chinese New Year's Eve, Chang Wei would not have been able to bow to the emperor, without the emperor's trust, not to mention that the machine bureau could stand up so quickly, and even clarifying the edict was not so smooth.

Chu Qing said miserably: "Since Wei Shao is still nostalgic, please save Lei Bang." ”

Chang Wei was surprised: "What's wrong with Lei Bang?" Isn't he learning the Yin Rune Sutra in Baiyun Guan now, and growing that thing?

Chu Qing hurriedly said: "Lei Bang was arrested by your Jinyi Guard!"

How could he be captured by Jinyiwei with Lei Bang's skills? How did he get into trouble with Jinyiwei when he was in Baiyunguan? )