Zheng Tie turned his head and said to Zheng Chao beside him, "You also want to toast the eldest son."
Li Guozhu's eyes fell on Zheng Chao involuntarily.
As early as the first time he met Zheng Chao, he knew that the man with thick hands and feet who followed shopkeeper Zheng must have crossed the sea before.
He guessed in his mind whether what shopkeeper Zheng said might be related to this person.
Zheng Chao stood up, raised his glass, and said, "My lord, let me toast you."
"It's easy to talk." Li Guozhu picked up the wine glass, drank a drink with him, and then said, "Looking at Brother Zheng's appearance, he must have ran across the sea before."
Zheng Chao said, "To be honest with you, sir, I spent a few years in Nanyang, and then I went to Tianjin Wei, and I have been with my boss since then."
"That's it." Li Guozhu nodded slightly.
The Hongmao barbarians in Nanyang are the most powerful. Unlike the route from Hirado to Daming, the Li family almost has the final say.
Zheng Tie said, "Brother Zheng came this time under the order of my proprietor. He wanted to go to Macau and bring back several red-haired barbarian cannon makers. My proprietor is more interested in red-haired barbarian cannons, especially It’s the kind of artillery suitable for field battles.”
"This is easy." Li Guoshu smiled, feeling slightly relieved at the same time.
Originally, he heard that Zheng Chao had stayed in Nanyang, and he thought that this incident was related to Nanyang, which made him a little worried. After all, the Li family did not have a good relationship with the red-haired barbarians over there.
At that time, his father Li Dan was forced to settle in Hirado from Luzon because of his relationship with the red-haired barbarians.
The Franji people in Macau are different. Their strength is far inferior to that of the red-haired barbarians. Moreover, they are within the Ming Dynasty, and their Li family still has a certain power in Macau.
A Han businessman who was accompanying him said at this time, "This matter can be left to Huang Cheng. He is in Macau. It is not a problem to get a few Folangji cannon casters."
While speaking, he looked towards Li Guozhu.
Li Guoshu thought of Huang Cheng and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll leave this matter to Huang Cheng. With his foundation in Macau, it won't be difficult to accomplish this."
"I am here to thank the eldest master for our proprietor." Zheng Tie stood up and saluted Li Guoshu.
Zheng Chao on the side also saluted.
Li Guozhu smiled and said, "You two are too polite, sit down, sit down, sit down."
He raised his hand and motioned for Zheng Tie and Zheng Chao to sit down.
After the two people sat down, he continued, "This matter may be a little difficult in your eyes, but in my Li family, it is not an important matter, and Franji people love money. With Huang Cheng coming forward, he can spend more money." With some money, you can buy off the Franji stewards of the artillery factory, and then you can choose the cannon casters of the artillery factory as you please. Of course, this will only happen if those Franji gunners are willing to go to Datong with you."
A Han merchant on the side said, "It doesn't matter if you don't want to go. Just put the people in sacks, put them on the boat, and take them to Datong. By then, these Folangji people won't be able to stay if they don't want to."
"No need to go to such trouble." Another Han businessman said, "Folangji and Hongmaoyi are both greedy for money. As long as I give you more gold and silver, I will definitely agree to go back to Datong with you."
With the discussion of several people, it was decided to go to the Macau Gun Factory to recruit gunsmiths.
Zheng Tie and Zheng Chao looked at each other and did not expect that the matter would be resolved so easily.
The two of them had agreed before going to the banquet to ask Li Guozhu for help in finding a cannon-caster in Macau.
Li Dan's Kapitan is not called for nothing. Except for the red-haired barbarians, no one on the sea can threaten the Li family.
For the unfamiliar tiger character flag, it may not be easy to go to the Macau gun factory to find the Franji gunsmith, but for the Li family, it is not a difficult thing.
At this time, the door was pushed open, and an old man of half a century walked in.
"Master Li." The Han merchant at the table suddenly shouted.
Li Guozhu had already stood up, walked to the door, and reached out to help the half-century-old man who walked in.
"No, I'm not old enough to ask for help." Li Dan shook off Li Guoshu's outstretched arm and walked forward alone.
Zheng Tie and Zheng Chao had already gotten up.
The half-century-old man with a short stature and a gentle face in front of him turned out to be a well-known sea merchant in Hirado, the Kapitan in the mouth of the red-haired barbarians.
Li Dan took a few steps forward and said with a smile, "These two are Shopkeeper Zheng and Brother Zheng from Datong, right?"
"I've met Mr. Li."
Zheng Tie and Zheng Chao hugged Li Dan at the same time.
"No need to be polite, everyone, sit down, everyone, sit down." Li Dan spoke gently, raising his hand and pressing down, gesturing for everyone to sit down.
Li Dan sat down where Li Guozhu was sitting, while Li Guozhu stood aside to serve.
After everyone saw Li Dan sitting down, they sat down again.
"This batch of iron goods you brought is very good. I hope our two families can often cooperate in the future. Come, I will have a drink with you." Li Dan picked up the wine glass.
Li Guozhu said in a low voice, "Shopkeeper Zheng just said that their boss will send a ship to Hirado in the future. I have already agreed to cooperate with them."
"Then I need to drink this glass of wine." Li Dan raised his glass towards Zheng Tie.
Zheng Tie and Zheng Chao hurriedly raised their glasses, clinked their glasses with Li Dan, and downed the drink in one gulp.
Li Dan took a sip of wine, then put down the glass and said, "I heard from Guozhu that your employer is a famous iron merchant in Datong. As long as you and I cooperate, I can guarantee here that in the future, the merchant ships of your Tiger Flag will arrive No one dares to touch this line in Hirado.”
"Thank you, Master Li, for taking care of me." Zheng Tie felt happy and hurriedly picked up the wine glass and said, "I would like to propose a toast to Master Li."
Li Dan's words were equivalent to a gold medal for immunity from death for Tiger Flag. With Li Dan's influence in Nanyang and Japan, he said that if no one dared to touch Tiger Flag's ship, then no one would dare to move it.
Li Dan smiled and picked up the wine glass and took another sip.
Li Guozhu on the side said, "Shopkeeper Zheng and his bosses also have contacts with the grassland, and they can get a lot of fur goods from the north."
Li Dan nodded.
Compared with leather goods, he valued the ironware of the Tiger Flag more.
Ironware was a common commodity in Japan and even in Southeast Asia. If the Li family could win this monopoly, it would be equivalent to controlling the ironware monopoly trade.
Countries including the Ming Dynasty were short of iron, so overseas trade always involved a large amount of iron items.
Nowadays, Tiger Flag's ironware can not only be supplied in large quantities, but is also top-notch in terms of quality and craftsmanship.
"I'm old, Guozhu, you should have more contact with Shopkeeper Zheng of Tiger Character Banner and others in the future." Li Dan turned around and warned Li Guozhu.
Li Guozhu said, "This time Shopkeeper Zheng and his boss want to bring back several gunsmiths from the Macau Gun Factory. My son is going to accompany them to Macau and let Huang Cheng mediate."
"Your boss wants to make his own cannon." Li Dan became interested and looked at Zheng Tie.
Zheng Tie said, "There are many horse bandits on the grassland. Our proprietor originally built some tiger squatting cannons, but unfortunately the range was too close. Later, I heard that the red-haired barbarians have a two-pound cannon and a four-pound cannon that are very good. We were specially ordered to bring a few." A gunsmith who can make this type of artillery, go back."
"Your proprietor is very good." Li Dan praised.
As a large merchant on the border between Japan and Nanyang, he often dealt with the Hongmao Yi. He knew that the Hongmao Yi had some artillery, which was suitable for field battles. It was more convenient to use than some of the artillery of the Ming Dynasty and had a longer range.
A businessman from the Ming Dynasty could have such a vision, which made him take a high look at the proprietor of the Tiger Flag who he had never met before.
