Li Zicheng's heart beat like thunder when he saw with his own eyes that Zheng Jiada operated a musket and beat a target covered in cotton armor fifty paces away.
After fighting for so many years, he had never seen such a sharp firearm.
wrong!
During the fierce battle on the banks of the Huaihe River, the New Army's firearms seemed to be even more powerful than this.
"Director Zheng, this seems to be slightly different from the musket used by your army."
Zheng Jiada smiled calmly.
"The muskets used by our army are the best in the world, so naturally they cannot be exposed. For General Chuang, having this gun is enough."
His honesty gave Li Zicheng nothing to be angry about.
Li Zicheng asked himself, if he had something good, he would not give it to others.
As for the muskets brought by Zheng Jiada, although they are far inferior to those of the new army, as long as they do not fight with the new army, they are more than enough to deal with the Ming army.
Li Zicheng took the musket from Zheng Jiada's hand and stroked it carefully from head to tail, as if he had seen a peerless beauty.
"What's the price of this gun?"
He had already begun to imagine that his subordinates were equipped with such magical weapons and were traveling across the Central Plains, defeating the Ming army to the point of losing their armor.
If you can't defeat the Shandong New Army, you can't defeat it.
From now on, he does not plan to set foot in Shandong and the Huaihe River again.
As the bitter master of the Lao Zhu family, he was satisfied if he could cause trouble for Daming.
As for whether Shandong would take advantage of him if he and Daming fought until both sides lost in the future, Li Zicheng no longer cared so much.
In other words, Li Zicheng today is not so ambitious and feels that he can dominate the world.
After all, even among the rebels, he is not outstanding.
There were Gao Yingxiang, Zhang Xianzhong, Lao Huihui and others in front of him, and it was not his turn.
"The muskets made by the Ming Dynasty cost about three taels each. The ones we made in Shandong are even more sophisticated and cost a lot of money. If King Chuang is interested, each musket will cost four taels of silver, and it comes with ten rounds of bullets and a pot of gunpowder."
After hearing Zheng Jiada's quotation, Li Zicheng pondered for a while and felt that it was quite reasonable.
"In that case, give us a thousand more, and triple the bullets and gunpowder."
The bullets and gunpowder donated by Shandong were obviously not enough. Li Zicheng did not know when he would be able to trade with Shandong again in the future, so he planned to buy enough at once.
Zheng Jiada fully agreed to his needs.
Shandong's output of weapons is as high as it needs, and it has even become a burden now.
The annual cost spent on weapons manufacturing has accounted for a large part of the revenue.
Therefore, other administrative departments have complained a lot and repeatedly proposed to reduce the number of weapons manufacturing.
Zuo Mengeng also endured tremendous pressure.
Therefore, I have been thinking about how to use arms trade to balance the balance of payments.
This time when fighting against the Northwest Rebels, he made a plan to stop when the fighting reached a certain level. Send relevant personnel to contact the Northwest Rebels to see if they can sell weapons to them.
Of course, this definitely does not include Zhang Xianzhong.
This guy is really too evil. He wreaks havoc wherever he goes. Even being cut to pieces cannot make up for his evil deeds.
In comparison, Li Zicheng's style is undoubtedly much better, and he is also Zuo Mengeng's designated partner.
Initial contact, the effect is good.
Just the musket made Li Zicheng unable to put it down.
But when Zheng Jiada's men opened the wooden box and assembled the contents, Li Zicheng realized that the musket was nothing.
With one shot, the sky collapsed.
Li Zicheng's eyes turned red when he saw that the small cannon with two big wheels in front of him could hit three miles away and completely destroy thick walls and big trees.
The reason why their northwest rebel army was displaced and unable to gain a foothold was because they lacked the sharp weapons to destroy the city and pull out the stronghold.
Facing the fortified city, they had no choice.
But the resources are basically all in the city. If you can't break the city, you can't develop and grow, and you will always be a rogue bandit.
If we had such firearms and could destroy the city wall with one shot, what would the Ming army have to fear?
Of course Li Zicheng could see that the power of the artillery brought by Zheng Jiada could never be compared with that used by the New Army itself.
Not to mention that it didn't hit that far, the artillery shell was just an iron ball, unlike the New Army's artillery that exploded into a large area.
But Zheng Jiada has already said that good things are obviously not sold for takeaway.
And such artillery is completely enough for the rebels.
"How many cannons like this are there? We want them all."
Zheng Jiada laughed, but what he said made Li Zicheng extremely embarrassed.
"Cannons are not easy to cast, far more than muskets. Such a cannon requires four thousand taels of silver, not including cannonballs and gunpowder."
Li Zicheng was frightened and had no idea it was such a sky-high price.
But he has seen the power of artillery. It is not an exaggeration to say that one cannon can equal a thousand.
Can only four thousand taels of silver be enough to stop thousands of troops?
Obviously not.
But artillery will do.
Li Zicheng will still settle this account.
"Then give us thirty doors."
Thirty artillery pieces and ammunition, plus a thousand muskets and ammunition, had already consumed all the wealth Li Zicheng had looted over the years.
But Li Zicheng didn't care.
He knows very well that when these weapons are obtained, the wealth that can be grabbed will only be more.
And with these things, the ranking among the rebels will have to change.
He, Li Zicheng, no longer has to be anyone's vassal. He is the top of the mountain and must be ranked high.
Yes, Li Zicheng did not intend to tell others about the transaction with the New Army, nor did he want others to know that there was such a way.
Even his uncle Gao Yingxiang is no exception.
People's ambitions change with time and status.
At the beginning, everyone shared the joys and sorrows and faced precarious situations. For this uncle, Li Zicheng could only follow him willingly.
But now that he has matured and has strong soldiers and horses under his command, he wants to seek more.
Zheng Jiada could clearly see his little thoughts, but he didn't care.
"Okay then, it's a deal. Three days later, we'll still be trading here."
Li Zicheng high-fived him, signed a contract, and returned happily with gifts.
Li Zicheng was careful enough to avoid irrelevant eyes and ears, and only informed Li Guo, Li Jin and other cronies about the matter.
When the generals of the Chuang Army learned that they would get magical weapons, everyone was very excited, and their hatred of Shandong was also reduced a lot.
Li Guo and Li Jin even started to argue, both wanting to arm their own troops with these weapons.
In the end, it was Li Zicheng who made the decision and the arrangement was given to Li Jin.
It's not that he trusts Li Jin more, but because Li Jin leads his personal guards.
No matter what, Li Zicheng could not allow a powerful force to be out of sight and out of control.
As for Liang Yue.
Li Zicheng knew that he and Zuo Mengeng had a bloody feud.
I don't know how Liang Yue should feel when he learned about this matter. He hesitated for a moment and could only tell everyone to hide it for the time being.
