Han Xiufeng was not only not interested in tobacco, but also hated it. Seeing that his face had changed, Lin Qingyuan didn't dare to say more, so he led him all the way to Xiangmao Foreign Bank.

The first time I walked into the big house of a foreigner, I felt that the style was magnificent, but it still did not have the atmosphere of a Chinese temple and palace, Han Xiufeng looked around, and his attention was attracted by the foreign goods displayed in the crystal counter.

Just as he was looking at it, a foreigner wearing leggings and pigtails walked over.

Lin Qingyuan hurriedly greeted him and nodded his head to say hello, stood at the top of the stairs and muttered to the foreigner for a while, and then the foreigner snorted at the small room on the side and motioned for everyone to go in and talk.

The first time he dealt with a foreigner, Han Xiufeng was a little nervous, pretending to admire the paintings on the wall, and took a few deep breaths with his back to the foreigner, and then walked in with Su Jueming, who was more nervous than him.

There was a beautiful coffee table in the room, there were a few soft chairs on the side of the coffee table, the foreigner smiled and beckoned him to sit, Han Xiufeng arched his hand, and pretended to sit down calmly.

The foreigner muttered a few words, and Lin Qingyuan hurriedly said: "Fourth Master Han, Mr. Johnson asked where you are from and what you are doing when you buy foreign guns?" ”

"Han is from Yangzhou, although the industry in Yangzhou City is occupied by spears, there are still thousands of acres of land and some real estate in the countryside, by the way, there is also my Han family ancestral hall. This army is in chaos, and it is better to ask for others than for yourself, so I want to buy some foreign guns and go back to the home to care for the home. ”

Han Xiufeng said it lightly, but Lin Qingyuan didn't believe a word, because the accent didn't look like Yangzhou at all, but he still began to help translate.

Before Lin Qingyuan could translate it, a small foreigner who looked different from Johnson walked in with a beautiful silver plate, poured tea for everyone, and served a few plates of snacks.

While listening to Lin Qingyuan's translation, Johnson smiled and motioned for Han Xiufeng to use tea.

Gray is not a few pulls, it doesn't look like tea, and it doesn't smell the fragrance of tea, but it has a strange smell, Han Xiufeng really doesn't want to drink it, but it's not good if he doesn't drink it at all, so he just smiled slightly, picked up a small cup with a handle, and took a small sip with a silver spoon.

If you don't drink it, you don't know, and when you drink it in your mouth, you find that it's so bitter that it's going to die, and it's terrible to drink.

Thinking that it was inappropriate to spit it out, Han Xiufeng simply swallowed it, and then put down the teacup casually, looking at Johnson and Lin Qingyuan with a smile.

"Fourth Master Han, Mr. Johnson asked how many strokes you plan to buy?"

"It depends on the goods, it depends on the price, if the goods are good and the price is appropriate, then you might as well buy more." Han Xiufeng leaned on the chair handle and said with a smile.

After listening to the translation, Johnson crossed his arms and muttered a few more words, Lin Qingyuan hurriedly said: "Mr. Johnson asked what kind of gun you want to buy?" ”

"What kind of thing does Mr. Johnson have here?" Han Xiufeng asked rhetorically.

Johnson is not an ordinary foreigner, but a foreign company class, and a director of the racecourse, just now he was going to go out to find the consul in Shanghai, but he met Han Xiufeng and these uninvited guests, if he hadn't heard that they were here to buy guns, he wouldn't have personally received Han Xiufeng and others.

Johnson didn't care what Han Xiufeng came from, he felt that as long as there was a profitable business, he could do it, so he simply turned sideways and whispered a few words to the little foreigner who came in just now, and the little foreigner nodded and ran out quickly.

After waiting for half a stick of incense, several foreigners with guns poured in.

"Fourth Master Han, Mr. Johnson asked you to take a look at the goods, and then negotiate the price when you like it."

"Okay, I'll take a look."

Han Xiufeng stood up and looked at it, took the gun from the third foreigner on the left, confirmed that Wu Wenming sent someone to Shanghai to buy this kind of gun, turned around and smiled: "Mr. Lin, please help me ask Mr. Johnson, how to sell this kind of gun." ”

Johnson was very strange, secretly wanted to bring in five kinds of guns, this Chinese who came to the door neither picked the best rifle nor the most old-fashioned arquebus, but actually looked at it and took a fancy to the ordinary flintlock pistol, and couldn't help but turn sideways Lin Qingyuan and muttered a few words.

"Fourth Master Han, Mr. Johnson said that this kind of gun is eighty silver dollars a shot."

"Gunpowder and lead, the kind wrapped in oiled paper."

After Lin Qingyuan finished translating, he turned around and said: "Gunpowder and lead are counted by barrels, and a barrel of fifteen silver dollars." ”

Han Xiufeng said without thinking: "It's expensive, please tell Mr. Johnson that I am sincere, and I don't buy ten or eight strokes, ask Mr. Johnson if he can give a real price." ”

Johnson, who had never done such a business, asked curiously, "Lin, do you think he is rich?" ”

"Mr. Johnson, he was introduced by Wu of 'Rishengchang', and he is the shopkeeper of the largest ticket number in the city." Afraid that the senior class of the foreign bank would not believe it, Lin Qingyuan pointed to Xiao Wuzi standing behind Han Xiufeng again: "The person behind him is 'Rishengchang'." ”

"In that case, you tell him that the flintlock pistol is sixty yuan a barrel and the paper ammunition is ten yuan a barrel, and I will have as much as I want, pay half of the deposit first, and deliver it within sixty days."

After listening to the translation, Han Xiufeng immediately said: "I can accept this price, but the delivery time is too long." ”

After Lin Qingyuan finished translating, he translated Johnson's words: "Fourth Master Han, Mr. Johnson said that the gun you want to buy is not in stock, if you want to buy it, you can only buy an arquebus." ”

The arquebus is unreliable, five out of ten shots do not catch fire, and the lead cannot be shot.

The shotguns and guns of the green battalion soldiers are actually large arquebuses, because they are unreliable, and they are easy to explode when they are shoddy, no one dares to raise their aims, and once the guns can't be released, the bandits rush to the front, so when they see the bandits, they don't even see the bandits.

The tap firebird gun is much more reliable than the arquebus, and only one or two shots at most can not catch fire when you shoot ten shots, if you keep it well and wipe it often like Liang Jiu, you can catch fire with ten shots and ten shots, which is a lesson that the old Taiyong battalion learned with blood at Wanfu Bridge.

Han Xiufeng said without thinking: "I won't buy the arquebus if it is in stock, since Mr. Johnson doesn't have a stock of the musket, then I will go to other foreign companies to ask." ”

After listening to the translation, Johnson shrugged his shoulders and expressed regret that the deal was not done. Han Xiufeng had already thought about shopping around, and he didn't feel much regret, so he thanked him and said goodbye to Johnson with a smile.

Unexpectedly, I ran five foreign companies in the morning, including a foreign company in France, and there was no stock of firebird guns. Lin Qingyuan also felt strange, and helped find a familiar foreigner by the Bund and asked, only to know that the firebird gun was a gun used by foreign soldiers on the English, Citigroup and French gunboats. If you look for those poor and crazy foreign soldiers, you may be able to buy ten or twenty strokes, but if you want to buy more, you have to find a big ocean company.

"Fourth Master Han, if you don't rest here for a while, I'll go to the Citi Concession to help you ask."

Han Xiufeng was not unable to walk, but was attracted by the foreigner gunboats and cargo ships docked on the edge of the Bund, thinking that Lin Qingyuan mistakenly thought that he was a bandit from Jiangning, he should not dare to play tricks, and agreed: "Then please help me run, Guangsheng, Xiao Wuzi, you go with Mr. Lin." ”

"Okay, but the fourth master, don't go far, otherwise we won't be able to find you when we come back."

"Don't worry, I'll just look here, and I'm not going anywhere."

As soon as the three of them were sent away, Su Jueming couldn't help but point to the porter who was helping to unload the cargo from the foreigner cargo ship and said, "Fourth master, look, it's all big smoke!" ”

Looking in the direction of Su Jueming's finger, he saw boxes of tobacco and soil being moved ashore by hundreds of footmen and ants, Han Xiufeng looked at the Shanghai Customs Supervision Office in the distance, and then looked back at the house built by the foreigner on the edge of the Bund, and said with a frown: "The imperial court collects taxes, and the foreigners make money, but it harms the people." ”

"If you learn all of them well and don't smoke any of them, where will foreigners go to make money."

"This thing is addictive, you don't want to smoke it now, you are pulled to smoke it once or twice, and you can't smoke it if you want to." Han Xiufeng sat down, stared at the "Qi Fighting Boat" on the river, and muttered: "How did this ship of foreigners make it, as well as those foreign guns, those foreign cloths, foreign soaps, foreign soaps and foreign fires, why can't we make them." ”

"Fourth master, this is a long-haired rebellion, if the world is peaceful, who will come here to buy foreign guns." Su Jueming thought about it and said: "As for the foreign cloth and foreign soap, we can buy it or not, and we can use it or not." ”

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