"What, you have pearls and gems?" When Shen Sanda heard that the funds Kang Lin carried with him were not enough to pay for all the gun purchases, his face suddenly sank. The official was about to lose his temper, but then When he came down and heard that this guy actually had pearls, gems and other good things in his hand, he immediately suppressed the anger in his heart, put on a smile again and said,
"Brother, you need to pay more for pearls and gems to exchange for guns and cannons. After all, brother has to exchange them for real gold and silver outside before he can be deposited into Weicang to settle the account..."
His mother's, his mother's! To bargain with him is to despise the officials and to be killed; to use jewels to pay the bill and let him make some of the difference is his brother, this bastard is really very realistic! When Kang Lin saw Shen Sanda's capricious face like Ochumelov (a tribute to Russian writer Anton Pavlovich Chekhov's "Chameleon"), he couldn't help feeling disgusted in his heart, but now he couldn't reconcile with him. These bastards turned against each other, so they could only turn around and order Zheng Nansheng, their infantry commander,
"Go, take a look at the quality of the guns. If there's no problem, we'll pay! San'er, bring two people to me to find Shopkeeper Qiao and ask him to apply for a temporary residence permit. It's been a few days and we haven't received it yet. As a result, if it’s really difficult, don’t do it, ask him to come back quickly and help us estimate the value of this batch of jewelry!”
"Yes, lord!" Without too much nonsense, Zheng Nansheng accepted his leader's order! Then, he selected three people from among Kang Lin's ten personal followers as his assistants, and began to carefully check whether there were cracks, bulges and other problems in all the general cannons and Ye Gong's magic guns present; and after obtaining Wang Ruhai's consent, Prepare to fire a cannon with your own hands and see if the performance of these guns and cannons is really as good as Shen, Jing, and Wang boast!
"The gun barrel is made of pig iron, with no obvious cracks, but there are trachoma on the wall, which may cause the barrel to explode! Come, clean the barrel, place the ignition powder, fill half of the gunpowder, cover it with paper, tamp the gunpowder and paper, and stuff it Enter the wooden horse, fill it with large lead bullets, add skids, and adjust the muzzle a little to the right! Brothers, aim at the 200-step target and fire a shot, so that all the adults in the field can see what our Chiyang man can do!" Inspecting the artillery, finding defects, restoring the gun position, loading ammunition, and preparing to fire... Zheng Nansheng's performance was very professional in the eyes of Baihu Wang Ruhai, even more professional than him, the chief gunnery instructor of the Eastern Navy! Because at least, it is impossible for him to complete all steps of artillery loading in such a short period of time, no matter how many days he practices!
"Brother, it's disrespectful that you have such good people under your command!" As the saying goes, experts know the rules, and laymen know the rules! Unlike Shen and Jing who were holding tea cups and watching the excitement, Liu Chongqi, like Wang Ruhai, saw something unusual! He didn't expect that his adoptive brother, whom he casually recognized, would have such a powerful man under his command. Not only could he load the cannon in a very short time, but he could also detect trachoma inside the cannon and fire it with half the charge. ! You know, he has also played with these two kinds of guns, and he knows how complicated the loading steps are and how long it takes. Without systematic training, even if he is given ordinary flag army gunpowder, wooden horses, and lead bullets, he will not be able to succeed. Fire these big guys, let alone do the loading work so quickly and accurately!
"It's nothing, it's nothing. Our subordinates only have this little trick for you to take a look at! Lao Zheng, since you are ready, why don't you hurry up and let everyone have fun!" Looking at the faces of everyone present, With a shocked look on his face, Kang Lin smiled brightly and proudly gave the order to fire to Zheng Nansheng. The latter, after hearing the words, just bowed his hands to the former, indicating that he already knew, and ordered his men to light fire and fire cannons, aiming at the target of two hundred steps. Three wooden targets outside!
"Boom!" It was still a familiar voice, familiar smoke, and fire, but the difference was that the Ye Gong Magic Gun controlled by Zheng Nansheng and others accurately hit the leftmost target at a distance of more than 300 meters! In the stunned eyes of everyone, the six-pound cannonball carried huge kinetic energy and tore the wooden target into three or four pieces, and then hit the mound behind the target with all its remaining force, straight to the ground. A mound of soil one to two feet high was torn into pieces and dust was flying!
"His..." Everyone couldn't help but gasped when they saw this, secretly thinking that this accuracy was too terrible! Previously, Wang Ruhai, the head gunnery instructor of Donghai, commanded his flag troops to fire several shots in a row before they could hit a target. How come when they arrived at Kang Lin's men, they hit it with one shot, and it was a more difficult long-distance lob shot! They didn't know that Zheng Nansheng's artillery master was Yan Si, a Ming military attache who had received training from Portuguese instructors under Kong Youde. In addition to being able to control artillery to shoot directly at targets, he was actually better at using European artillery such as blunderbuss gauges and bludgeoning rulers. Tools to aim and fire! When he left the main fleet and came to Donghai City this time, Zheng Nansheng brought a set of measurement tools with him. Therefore, it is not surprising that Kang Lin's artillery team can hit the target from a long distance! In fact, Zheng Nansheng, who saw the first shot hitting the target, was so confident that he was eager to load the artillery again and shoot at a farther target!
"Old Zheng, how are you?" He stretched out his hand to stop Zheng Nansheng and others who looked hopeful. Kang Lin asked the question that he was eager to know the answer to. The latter, after hearing his boss's question, immediately gave it without thinking. The correct answer is, "Lord, although there are trachoma on the inner wall of the gun, it does not affect the launch. You just need to load less gunpowder!"
"Okay, Shopkeeper Qiao, help me estimate the value of these jewels. Let's eat these guns right away!" After receiving a positive answer, Kang Lin ignored the greed and fear on the faces of Jing and others. , turned around and asked Qiao Si, the shopkeeper of the Donghai Chamber of Commerce who had just been half-lifted and half-pulled over by Jiang San.
"Mr. Kang, these pearls of yours are large, round, and crystal clear. They are rare goods. If they were sold in Anyang, the capital, each pearl would be sold for more than 400 taels of silver. However, in Shandong, Cheng Xuan's political envoy If you can get half of it, it would be good; as for various gems, you have to calculate them according to their weight. The market conditions are different in different places in the Ming Dynasty, and the prices are also different, but no matter what, a gem weighing one point (0.37 grams) can still be worth it. Eighty taels of silver. Mr. Kang, you have about twenty gems of various sizes in your hands. According to Qiao's estimate, if you sell them all, you will make a profit of more than a thousand taels of silver. It shouldn't be a problem..." Looking at the high quality of your hands, Qiao Si sincerely gave the purchase guide price for pearls and gems. To be honest, he did not expect that the fledgling Kanglin gang could obtain these valuable goods, but this did not affect his desire to obtain this batch of jewelry for his own chamber of commerce, and even for the big shots behind the chamber of commerce! After all, if pearls weighing five to six cents and of good quality are sold individually, they will cost only four hundred taels of silver at most, but if they are processed, strung into strings, or inlaid with gold and silver ornaments, they can cost tens of thousands of taels. Not surprising! But today, for him to meet such a rare and rare talent and beauty, it would be a shame for him not to take advantage of his status as the head of the East China Sea Chamber of Commerce. Therefore, he took the risk of offending the commander of the East China Sea Guards, Ambassador Cang. , and asked Kang Lin to eat it in one bite.
"Mr. Kang, you and I are not outsiders. Let's do this. If you intend to sell them all, our Chamber of Commerce is willing to purchase all the pearls in your hand at a price of two hundred and forty taels. And if the gemstones are all in good condition, It's so dazzling, even our Chamber of Commerce can eat it all with one hundred taels of silver per minute..."
"Shopkeeper Qiao, you don't need to look so ugly. Brother Kang just promised us to use jewelry to offset the purchase of guns and cannons. Don't just rely on your father-in-law's support to try to monopolize it!" Surprisingly, Kang To the boss's surprise, the always domineering Shen Sanda and the stern-faced Jing Yuanpei saw that shopkeeper Qiao Siqiao was standing between them and wanted to eat all the jewelry, but they didn't dare to directly order someone to take it. Si Si was furious and discussed with him carefully. However, in Kang Lin's view, shopkeeper Qiao, who was submissive and even a little greedy for life, suddenly became more powerful. Not only did he not give anyone face, he also said with righteousness and righteousness,
"Everyone, Mr. Kang needs silver to buy guns and cannons. I accept his jewels and give him silver to pay you. What's the problem? Anyway, if you accept the jewels, you have to find someone to cash them in, right? Don't make unnecessary troubles for everyone..."
"Uh, okay, you are the first shopkeeper under Mr. Weng, so whatever you say will be ignored. Anyway, as long as there is money in the account, I don't care about jewelry or not!" Seeing Qiao Si insisting and refusing to give himself face, Shen Sanda was about to fall out, but when he thought about how hard-core the backer behind this guy was, he swallowed his words alive. He didn't want to offend someone he couldn't afford to offend for some frivolous money, thus making him lose his temper. He lost his humble and powerful position as ambassador to Cang.
"Okay, since Ambassador Shen and Manager Jing have given you face, the matter is settled! Brother Kang, you have twelve pearls weighing five to six cents and five rubies and emeralds each. I will take advantage of you and give them How about your six thousand taels of silver?" After looking at Shen Sanda, Jing Yuanpei and others who had no objections and were holding tea leisurely, Qiao Si nodded and smiled, then turned to Kang Lin and asked.
Damn it, six thousand taels of silver, I bought a lot of supplies, and it cost me less than a thousand taels of silver. Just plundering a merchant ship from Nanyang can get more than ten thousand taels of silver. No wonder no one I am willing to work as a merchant and sell goods honestly, but I want to be a pirate on the dangerous and unpredictable sea. I am not willing to be second to others! Uh, no, it seems that I am now a pirate leader on the sea! Sell, sell, sell. If you have the white money, pearls and gems cannot be used for food or clothing, let alone muskets and cannons to kill enemies. What's the use of keeping them? It's better to sell them all to the East China Sea Chamber of Commerce. , it is more cost-effective to replace it with various supplies you need. Therefore, Kang Lin, who had figured this out, immediately nodded to indicate that he agreed to the transaction.
"Can!"
