After hearing this, everyone looked at each other and saw Bishop Wu asking with a smile on his face: "I wonder what kind of molds you use to make firearms?"
The bearded man replied: "Cannon casting has always been made from clay. Recently, iron molds have been used, but unfortunately they have not been very successful. But what they are anxious for now is not cannons, but blunderbuss... This thing was not available more than ten years ago. The casting method was used, but it was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the quality was poor and the barrel was very heavy. From then on, it was all about forging."
"Hey, you are also business people, how come you are stubborn when things happen?" Wu Sijing sighed, "We don't have to worry about which one is advanced and which one is lagging behind, we just make a show for the government."
Everyone became more and more doubtful, but seeing his confident look, they all bowed deeply: "I would like to hear the details!"
"Since they are unkind to us, we can only be unjust to him. As far as I know, most of the officials in this country know nothing about firearms and are easily deceived. You can lie and tell us that the casting method is the most convenient. If the other party is not willing to believe it , he would start work for two decades, and then take out an old gun from the warehouse and falsely claim that it was newly made. Seeing that it was made so quickly, he would definitely persuade the court to agree. At this time, he would borrow the gun-making place "There are many craftsmen needed and insufficient funds", so we asked the government for mold making fees, repair fees, body washing fees, etc., and only a few pennies were collected in a few days. After that, the delay lasted for a long time, and after a few months, we finally got the money. The repayment fee is more than ten taels? Once the captives advance to the border, they can take advantage of the panic of the court and increase the price. Wouldn't it be possible to make a huge profit for him!"
After hearing this, everyone was very excited, and the bearded man stepped forward to hold his hand tightly: "Old Bishop, you are really our savior!"
Wu Sijing felt his hands hurt, and he quickly broke away and said with a smile: "I only hate that this great dynasty cannot treat people fairly, so I am full of anger and want to fight for you. Now that you have an idea, why not go to Ye Yongjia quickly? ? This opportunity cannot be missed."
Everyone replied decisively: "We're going right now!"
Ye Yongjia was still sitting by the window, thinking, but suddenly he caught a glimpse of a few figures from the corner of his eye, so he slowly tilted his head and looked away.
"Master Ye!" The leader, Fat Fan Shang, knelt down at the door with a pair of tearful eyes. When the other three saw this, their knees also hit the ground, and their heads were pressed tightly to the floor. Only his beard showed dissatisfaction. Seems unwilling.
"What's wrong with you guys?" Ye Yongjia rubbed his eyes and was not in a hurry to get up.
Fat Fanshang raised his head and said: "Master Li just said something extreme, and we were so angry that we couldn't bear it and annoyed the great men. Thinking about it afterwards, I regretted it... I beg Master Ye to forgive us for our crimes. The four of me showed mercy to you without mercy!" After saying that, he choked up.
"I don't blame you. There is also something wrong with Li Shengzheng's attitude. As long as you are sincere, it doesn't matter. Get up." Ye Yongjia waved his hand, and they stood up respectfully and bowed deeply.
"Is there anything else you can do?" Ye Yongjia's expression seemed to relax a little.
"Master Lao asked. After careful consideration, I am willing to...agree with the strategy proposed by the imperial court." Fat Fanshang said word by word while wiping the corners of his eyes.
"You?" Ye Yongjia looked at the three people behind him, and they nodded frequently.
Seeing that all the businessmen looked pitiful, Ye Yongjia naturally lowered his guard a little, but his face was still cold: "Thank you for being considerate of the court. But Mr. Li's plan is still too much. I will try my best to help you. "
"Thank you, sir..."
"In order to repay your kindness, we are willing to cooperate with the government to discuss a casting method with you." The bearded man took half a step forward and looked up at him secretly.
"Just say it."
"It is better to cast shotguns in clay molds. This is our Western practice of making guns and we are accustomed to it. Using this method, the firearms will be made very quickly and it is a foolproof plan. Please ask Ye Gong to express his gratitude to the emperor and issue an edict to the craftsmen to learn from it." This method is to facilitate the war."
Ye Yongjia pondered for a moment, then frowned slightly: "Isn't that right?"
"Huh?" These words frightened the bearded man's eyes, and his body almost froze.
"I only know that cannons need to be cast, but I have never heard that shotguns need to be made in this way."
"Haha..." The bearded man laughed twice, turned around and exchanged glances with everyone, "This is what you don't understand. In the past, we in the West did not make blunderbuss, but forged them. Only recently did I learn about this. The method is so wonderful that one after another follows it and imitates it.”
"Sir, there is a reason for this," Fat Fanshang took over, "This forging seems simple, but once multiple iron pipes are connected, the bonding joint will not be strong, and the gun will not be stable when fired, and it will be easy to Exploded chamber. Have you ever seen a shotgun?"
Ye Yongjia had carefully read Jian Wensheng's military book, so how could he not know the appearance of a blunderbuss? But now that I saw them speaking intermittently and stumbling, I couldn't help but become wary again, so I deliberately pretended to be confused: "I saw them on a merchant ship before, but I didn't see them clearly, and I have forgotten them today."
'That's good, that's good...' The bearded man stroked his beard, put down the anxiety in his heart, and smiled broadly: "Then just listen to us. If you still have doubts, I will assure you that within twenty , we will definitely be able to make a good gun!”
"Okay, okay!" Ye Yongjia shouted excitedly, "You guys have this wonderful way to protect me forever! Ye will go back to the county government and report to the court!"
Several people stayed until evening before leaving, and Wu Sijing proudly walked out of the inner courtyard to see off the guests. After seeing off the four merchants, he gave Ye Yongjia a good horse and urged him to set off quickly so as not to disappoint the merchants' expectations.
Seeing how anxious he was, Ye Yongjia snickered secretly: "It seems that this must be his idea." ’ Then he stopped lingering, rode his horse down the earth mountain, went straight along the earth embankments, crossed the streams beside the fields, and disappeared into the night in the distance.
"Servant Cai!"
Ye Yongjia staggered open the door and quickly stepped forward to pat Cai Xianqing on the shoulder. "You haven't slept yet?"
"I can't sleep now. I'm having a midnight snack with Li Shenzheng." Cai Xianqing put down the cup and chopsticks in his hand and said with a smile.
Ye Yongjia looked up and saw that Li Wenshou was indeed sitting across from him. The two of them were surrounding a nanmu table, with a plate of big fish on both sides, and a portion of shrimp yuanzi and a portion of dog meat.
He didn't even eat dinner, and his stomach was extremely empty. He just stared at the fish meat glistening in the shadow of the lamp and swallowed hard.
"Tinglong, let's eat together." Cai Xianqing gave up his seat to him.
"No need," Ye Yongjia waved his hand, then turned around and sat on the edge of the bed, no longer looking at the dishes, "Just eat well."
"Without me causing trouble, can you do something good, sir?" Li Wenshou said with a sarcastic tone.
"More than just some tricks, I'm afraid I've already figured out their details!"
