Half a month ago, the Luo'an court made a series of big moves. Shangguan Hongyuan, the chief assistant, personally declared the Fengwu Army as a traitor and listed Ye Mingsheng's ten crimes, such as preying on the common people, killing colleagues, and bullying the emperor. Charges such as recklessness were pinned on Ye Mingsheng's head, and he also called on the soldiers and officials of the Fengwu Army to abandon the dark side and return to the orthodoxy of the Zhou Dynasty... ···
Murong Lun, who was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and entered the cabinet as he wished, also removed his brother's family and son from the genealogy, completely dividing the Murong family and Fengwu Army politically.
In addition, the Luo'an court also received the same information as Ye Mingsheng, and completed the appointment of Xu Zhaojie, making him governor of Huai'an, commander of the Zhennan Army, and inspector of the Three Souths.
The Fengwu Army was well prepared for the public opinion war set off by the Luo'an court, and did not tolerate Shangguan Hongyuan. The memorandum jointly drafted by Cui Shao, Gu Sansi, Gu Zhongshi, Murong Yuliang, He Jingyun and others was also It depicts Shangguan Hongyuan as a great traitor who has done all kinds of evil and the number one traitor in the past hundred years during the Great Wednesday. He calls on all the heroes from all over the world to gather in Luo'an to kill the national thief Shangguan Hongyuan.
Just when the public opinion war between the two sides was raging, a handwritten letter from Jiangnan was quietly delivered to Ye Mingsheng's desk!
The name of the person who wrote this autographed letter is Lu Jianchao. He is now 49 years old. He was a prostitute in the early years of Anhe. He has successively served as a doctor in the Ministry of Rites, the prefect of Lin'an, the right minister of the Ministry of Hubu, and the chief envoy to the south of the Yangtze River. He officially took office in the tenth year of Anhe. Governor of Jiangnan.
And he had only one purpose in writing this handwritten letter to Ye Mingsheng, and that was to purchase firearms from Fengwu Army!
Because he had never interacted with Lu Jianchao before, Ye Mingsheng was very surprised by this person's letter. However, after thinking about it briefly, Ye Mingsheng knew why Lu Jianchao sent him this letter... ·················
The root cause is that the Luo'an court appointed Xu Zhaojie as the Three-South Inspection Envoy. Ye Mingsheng could see Xu Zhaojie's intention in asking for the Three-South Inspection Envoy. Lu Jianchao, the governor of Jiangnan, was not a fool. Of course he understood Xu Zhaojie is coveting Jiangnan.
Judging from Lu Jianchao's resume, he is a traditional civil servant and is a good hand in local government affairs and central finance. Although he is the governor of Jiangnan and nominally controls the military and political power in Jiangnan, he knows nothing about military affairs.
The armed forces in Jiangnan are basically in the hands of a few general commanders. Fortunately, as a civilian, Lu Jianchao is good at appeasing people. The Jiangnan area is rich, so he spends a lot of money, so Lu Jianchao's reputation in the army is still very high. Yes, several general commanders also supported Lu Jianchao very much.
As the most prosperous and affluent area in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, Jiangnan is very rich, but it is not very good at self-defense. In the past, when the Great Zhou Dynasty was not as disintegrated as it is now, the soldiers and horses of Jiangnan were suppressing bandits. If we can't figure it out, we need to send troops from Huainan or Jingchu to suppress the bandits.
The purchase of firearms from the Fengwu Army this time also clearly shows that Lu Jianchao also knew that his Jiangnan army could not stop the tiger and wolf divisions of Xu Zhaojie's Southern Army, so he was prepared to attack the Fengwu Army, which had the strongest firearms in the Zhou Dynasty. , purchase firearms to increase the combat effectiveness of your troops...
Of course, in addition to the fact that the Fengwu Army’s firearms were the strongest in the Zhou Dynasty, Lu Jianchao’s purchase of firearms from the Fengwu Army also had geopolitical considerations. As the Luo’an court gave Xu Zhaojie the name to inspect Jiangnan, the relationship between Jiangnan and the Luoan court The relationship with Jiangnan has also reached a deadlock, and Sun Liangyu, the neighboring Jingchu, lost the war in Sichuan and Shu, took in Lin Shize's family, and now has too much to take care of himself, so the only one who can help Jiangnan is the Fengwu Army!
The grievances between Ye Mingsheng and Xu Zhaojie and the conflict of interests between the two forces also made Fengwu Army a natural ally of Jiangnan. Lu Jianchao also hopes to use this arms purchase to establish good contact with Fengwu Army and strive to When Xu Zhaojie invaded Jiangnan, Fengwu Army was able to send troops from the rear to contain Xu Zhaojie.
Because Ye Mingsheng wanted to replace the newly developed Fengwu guns, some of the Weiyuan guns and Polu guns previously equipped by the army were eliminated. Ye Mingsheng's previous methods for dealing with these eliminated firearms were: Sold to Lu Changping to support him against Xu Zhaojie.
And because Cao Changping was killed by himself, Ye Mingsheng could only prepare to sell it to the small feudal towns in Qilu. However, these people were a group of poor people and could not sell for a high price. They even wanted to shout that they would join the Fengwu Army. Just start from Ye Mingsheng.
Ye Mingsheng is also very worried about this, and now Lu Jianchao's willingness to buy also makes Ye Mingsheng very excited. After all, the arms business has always been a big business starting with one hundred thousand taels of silver, not to mention that the other party is a rich man like the Governor of Jiangnan. This time If this is done well, we can earn hundreds of thousands of taels of silver and expand the Fengwu Army to tens of thousands...
In order to show his sincerity, Ye Mingsheng provided dozens of fire guns as free samples to Lu Jianchao, so that Lu Jianchao could feel the powerful power of Fengwu weapons.
However, what Ye Mingsheng didn't expect was that the Governor of Jiangnan was really wealthy. He didn't even take a fancy to the second-hand firearms. He just waved his hand and asked for brand-new ones. He also wanted to have military officers as instructors and even wanted to buy red-coated firearms. Cannons and technology for making firecrackers, for which Lu Jianchao was willing to pay Fengwu Army millions of taels of silver!
Seeing how easily Lu Jianchao spent millions of taels of silver to buy arms, Ye Mingsheng swallowed secretly and understood that Xu Zhaojie, if he were Xu Zhaojie, would digest Huainan this year and directly send troops to Jiangnan at the beginning of next spring.
Although he was very envious of Lu Jianchao's one-million-dollar offer, Ye Mingsheng did not intend to sell the manufacturing technology of the red cannon, but only planned to sell the manufacturing technology of Weiyuan gun to Lu Jianchao.
Compared with the fire gun, the technical difficulty of the red cannon is undoubtedly very high. Judging from the current situation, the vassal towns all over the Great Zhou Dynasty have developed firearms similar to the Weiyuan gun, but each company has its own technology. level, resulting in the power and quality of the produced firecrackers being different.
However, in terms of artillery, currently only Shangguan Hongyuan's family has imitated the Zhengdong Cannon, but there is a big gap between it and the Fengwu Army's original Red Coat Cannon in all aspects, so the Red Coat Cannon is still the core competition of the Fengwu Army. Even if Ye Mingsheng is short of money, he will not sell the technology to make such a killer weapon...
Although Lu Jianchao expressed regret in the letter that Ye Mingsheng refused to sell the red cannon technology, he still thanked Ye Mingsheng for his support of Jiangnan defense.
After Ye Mingsheng and Lu Jianchao, the bosses of both parties, reached a consensus, the specific negotiation work between the two parties also started quickly. Because one of the two parties was short of money and the other was short of weapons, both sides were very willing to negotiate. Therefore, after several rounds of fierce negotiations, the two sides Soon an arms purchase contract worth 1.35 million taels of silver was reached.
The contract includes that Fengwu Army will deliver 30,000 Weiyuan guns to Jiangnan at a price of twenty taels each in the next year, and sell a gun to Jiangnan at a price of three hundred taels of silver each. Hundreds of new tiger squatting guns
In addition to selling firearms, the Fengwu Army will also transfer the technology of manufacturing Weiyuan gun to Jiangnan at the price of 200,000 taels of silver, and the technology of manufacturing the new Tiger Crouching Cannon to Jiangnan at the price of 300,000 taels of silver. , in addition to transferring technology, Fengwu Army will also send craftsmen to assist in building factories.
Finally, the Fengwu Army will send a group of 100 instructors to Jiangnan to guide Jiangnan's army in the use of firearms. For this purpose, Jiangnan will pay a consultant fee of 150,000 taels of silver.
After the agreement is reached, Jiangnan will pay a deposit of 350,000 taels of silver, and the remaining silver will be paid to Fengwu Army in batches after the firearms and technical personnel arrive one after another... ·····
Ye Mingsheng and Lu Jianchao are both very satisfied with this arms purchase contract worth millions. After Ye Mingsheng gets the money, he can expand the army on a large scale and accumulate strength for the decisive battle with Shangguan Hongyuan in the north. This arms contract is okay Establishing a good relationship with Jiangnan will help Fengwu Army's products enter Jiangnan territory for sale. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone!
Lu Jianchao not only received arms, but also technology and factories. He could produce subsequent firearms by himself. In the future, he could make as many firearms as he wanted without having to be controlled by others, which greatly improved his own defense capabilities.
In addition, he also attracted a potential ally like the Fengwu Army. When Xu Zhaojie tried to invade Jiangnan, he had to consider that the Fengwu Army behind him did not dare to invade Jiangnan easily.
This transaction is a win-win for both parties and meets the needs of both parties!
However, Xu Zhaojie naturally would not sit idly by and ignore the flirting between Ye Mingsheng and Lu Jianchao. He immediately sent an envoy to Jingchu to meet with Sun Liangyu. He did not know what kind of ecstasy soup his envoy poured into Sun Liangyu, which actually caused Sun Liangyu to suffer greatly. He raised the entry fee and sent someone to tell Ye Mingsheng and Lu Jianchao that if they wanted to pass through Jingchu for the arms contract, they had to let him get 30% of it.
To transport arms from Youyan to the south of the Yangtze River, the fastest way is naturally to take the Qilu and Huainan roads. However, the war in Qilu and the hostility between Ye Mingsheng and Xu Zhaojie caused many of the Fengwu Army's goods to go through Hebei, Henan, and Jingzhou. Compared with the former, the latter requires a lot more walking on the Chu road, but because it bypasses Huainan, the safety is also improved a lot... ···
In the past, Sun Liangyu also collected a lot of tolls from the trade between the two parties, and collected a lot of money without doing anything. However, this time, under the instigation of Xu Zhaojie, he opened his mouth like a lion and wanted to Want to get a share of this million-dollar arms contract
Ye Mingsheng and Lu Jianchao were both very angry when Sun Liangyu came to kill him. They sent envoys to negotiate with Sun Liangyu, but they didn't know whether this Sun Liangyu had eaten the courage of a bear's heart and a leopard's guts, and actually killed the matter in one bite. If you don’t agree, you’ll get 30%! And not only for this arms contract, but also for ordinary business transactions in the future, he will charge 30% of the toll!
Seeing that Sun Liangyu was so greedy, looking like he wanted money rather than his life, under normal circumstances, Ye Mingsheng would not have given him a long memory. However, the decisive battle with Shangguan Hongyuan was imminent, and Ye Mingsheng did not want to cause more trouble, so he Choosing restraint, he silently made a note to Sun Liangyu, and when he was done, Shangguan Hongyuan would make a calculation with him!
Because of Sun Liangyu's greed, the arms purchase between Fengwu Army and Jiangnan was temporarily put on hold. The two sides renegotiated the transportation method. Since neither wanted to accept Sun Liangyu's blackmail, Lu Jianchao proposed to Ye Mingsheng that the trade between the two parties should be carried out. Sea and land.
Ye Mingsheng was also very interested in Lu Jianchao's proposal and asked his men to find an authoritative person in sea transportation to demonstrate the matter. After repeated arguments, he came to the conclusion that although the risk is not high in rough seas, It is small, and it is also affected by Japanese invasion, but overall it is still feasible...
After reaching this conclusion, Ye Mingsheng was also very happy, so he agreed to Lu Jianchao's proposal. However, there were differences between Ye Mingsheng and Lu Jianchao on some details. Lu Jianchao wanted to let Jiangnan's merchant ships bear all the costs for both parties. transportation work.
Ye Mingsheng hopes to use this opportunity to improve the capabilities of the Northern Shipyard, so he also wants to let the Northern Merchant Ship take on part of the work and accumulate experience in overseas navigation. For this reason, Ye Mingsheng also specially came to Beijing to inspect. According to the relationship between them According to the agreement, Jingmen Port will be a temporary handover point for sea transportation between the two parties. Arms will be shipped from here to Jiangnan, and Jiangnan's silver will be sent ashore from here and entered into the Fengwu Army's warehouse.
By the beginning of next spring, the revised Fengwu Army will completely capture Qilu. By then, it will be handed over from Haiqu Port in Qilu, and the distance will be saved by more than half, and the risks will be significantly reduced accordingly.
Because he knew that the first batch of Jiangnan deposits of 350,000 taels had already set off by boat and would arrive at Jingmen Port soon, so after inspecting the facilities at Jingmen Port, Ye Mingsheng, who was confident, told Wang Quan that the Chief Secretary would Give him continued funding to recruit manpower as soon as possible to expand the scale of Jingmen Port and improve the level of Jingmen's shipbuilding industry. In the next few months, merchant ships from Jiangnan will continue to dock here to handle goods.
There is no doubt that this commercial trade with the Jiangnan region will be a huge development opportunity, which can drive the economic development of the entire Youyan region, make people's pockets richer, and improve their living standards!
In addition to driving economic development, Ye Mingsheng also hopes that this incident will stimulate the enthusiasm of northern people for overseas business.
In the past few decades, the Jiangnan region has obtained a large amount of gold and silver through continuous overseas trade, exporting tea, silk, porcelain and other commodities overseas, and has become the most prosperous and wealthy region in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Ye Mingsheng also intends to follow this example, so that traders in Fengwu Army can also go abroad, harvest the wealth of the world, and feed back the development of the local area, so that the common people can afford meat every meal and live in three large tile-roofed houses. , reduce the involution of the local area, and make the country a celestial country that comes from all directions to congratulate...
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